Battles Before The War
by Anthony1
Summary: Seventh story in the series. Wars usually are things that put an end to conflicts. However, most forget about the battles that came before them and the struggles that come because of them. For Daisuke and his friends, they must partake in such battles.
1. Slay

By this chapter up it's clear to see that the seventh story to my series is now on From the title and summary of the story you may have already guess that this series is coming to its end and you would be right. More than half of the series has been completed and there is only a few more to go.

Now, I'm not going to waste anymore of your time and allow you to go read this chapter and this shouldn't come must as a surprise but I don't own digimon.  
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_In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer.  
Rupert Giles, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"_

Battles Before The War

Chapter 1:  
Slay

"Look out behind you." Following her comrade's advice the young woman turned around and with a swing of her sword the cut off the head of the creature resulting in its death. Soon the only ones that were left standing were the woman and her comrade.

"Well, wasn't that exhilarating?" ribbed the woman. After the battle the two of them were currently relaxing at a small bar.

"If that's what you consider fun then we have two entirely different opinions." He only received a hearty laugh from the woman. "You're definitely stranger than I thought you were Sora and that's saying something."

The woman, now identified as Sora, once again laughed at her friend's comment. "Come on, I don't think that you don't have any right to say something like that to me. Remember, I know you as well as you know yourself."

While it may have seemed that Sora was berating her friend he knew that she was only playing around with him. "You're right. We've know each other since we were kids." Becoming serious he reached into his coat and pulled out a large envelope. Putting it on the table he slid it over to Sora. "We got our next assignment. We'll have to leave first thing tomorrow if we wish to get there as soon as possible. Does that sound good?"

Sora glanced over what was in the envelope before she gave her response. "It sounds good to me. The sooner we get the assignment done the better." She allowed the item that was in her hands to fall onto the table it was revealed that it was a photo. What was interesting though was that the photo was of none other than Daisuke Motomiya.

-/-/-/-/-

"I don't see why we're doing this."

"Because it could be fun." answered James casually. He only got an annoyed looked from his companion as a response. "Oh, come on Mimi. Is what we're going to do such a bad thing?"

"Yes it is." Mimi responded quickly. "In my opinion I don't believe that now isn't the time to do such a thing."

"We're only going on vacation." True to his word, the two of them were going to go on a vacation but they had to make a stop first. They soon reached their destination however they didn't go in right away as the two of them needed to talk. "Listen Mimi, do you truly believe that taking some time off is such a bad idea? If so give me a reason."

Instead of answering right away, Mimi thought it over. "There's nothing actually wrong with it." she reluctantly admitted. "It's just that there's still so much to do. Can we really take the time and relax?"

Reaching over, James put his hand under Mimi's chin and tenderly turned her head so that she was looking at him. "Maybe that's why we should be going on this vacation." He could tell by his girlfriend's look of confusion James continued. "It's true that there's still so much to do before we're done. But honestly we should be doing this because if we keep going without taking a break from time to time we'd burn ourselves out which would make us useless when we're needed. Besides, not much time has passed since the whole Dai incident and what you had to give up. It'll give you time to recover from it."

"I didn't do that much. I only did what I thought had to be done. I'm fine." That last part sounded like it was force and her boyfriend didn't miss it.

"You gave up something that has been apart of you for so long so that you could help a friend. Maybe by taking this break would help you get use to no longer having your premonition power." It seemed like Mimi wanted to argue but just couldn't. Wanting to comfort her in some way, James leaned over and gave her a loving kiss. "Now, why don't we get this over with so we can go?" Getting a nod of head from Mimi the two of them went to their slight detour.

-/-/-/-/-

"Be sure that you guys carefully examine everything and not over look anything."

"We know Daisuke." retorted an annoyed Miyako. "You told us several times already. There's no need to keep reminding us."

"Sorry you guys." apologized Daisuke. "I realize that I've been a real pain these past few days and I can only hope that you can understand why." Throughout Daisuke's house Daisuke and the others were checking out everything that was there.

"We understand." Ken muttered as he was examining the inside of the computer with Miyako assisting him. "After finding out that Samuel Bentson was one of the higher ups it does cause concern."

"Ken's right." added Hikari who also was checking out stuff. "Samuel was the one who graciously help fix this place. You can't help but to wonder if he left anything behind."

"Such as bugs that would allow him to spy on us." enlighten Daisuke. "So far nothing has been found but we can't be certain until we sweep this entire place."

"Is that why we're here?" Over by the doorway was James and Mimi. "Did you ask us to come here to help you check out your home?"

"No, that isn't the reason." Walking over to them, Daisuke grabbed Mimi's hand which he covered with his. "I know that you two are going on vacation and I just wanted to give you guys something before you go." Daisuke removed his hand from Mimi's and in her palm were a few rolled up dollar bills that were high currency. "Consider it thanks for helping make me whole. Even though it was something that I wish didn't happen." Daisuke explained when he noticed the confused looks on the faces of James and Mimi.

"You're too kind Daisuke but we can't accept your gracious offer." Mimi tried to hand the money back to Daisuke but he simply shook his head.

"Keep it. Like I said before it's just a way for me to say thanks for helping me out and I mean the both of you." He made that it known that he was referring to both of them. "I mean Mimi; you gave up your power so that I could rejoin with my demonic half. And you James, it was your knowledge about the Yin-Yang demons that helped us to put an end to that entire situation."

Reaching over Daisuke placed a hand on each of their shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is I appreciate what you guys have done and have fun on your time off."

"Don't worry, we'll have fun." informed James. "It's just that a certain someone feels a little reluctant to go because she believes that we'd be abandoning you guys."

"Is that the problem?" Despite himself Daisuke couldn't help but laugh a little. "There's no need for you to feel that way Mimi. The two of you deserve this time off. Besides, you're not the only ones who'll have a break. Both Ken and Miyako are going on vacation once they're done here." Getting nods from the two aforementioned people confirmed his statement. "Also, if we need you we'll call you. Does that suite you Mimi?"

It seemed like it was good enough for Mimi but she wouldn't say it as a knocking at the door was heard. Being the closest, Daisuke opened the door and was surprised by who was at the other end. "Oh my, it's you."

"Indeed it is." Standing in the doorway was a man who had to be in his mid twenties with wild brown hair and was a wearing casual blue t-shirt and black jeans. "It's good to see you again Daisuke."

The vampire with a soul was going to respond but someone beat him to it. "I don't believe it." Behind Daisuke was Hikari who was just as shock by who showed up. To some of them what she did next came as a surprise as Hikari ran over and hugged the man. "It's so good to see you brother."

"The feeling is mutual my little sister." With the man being identified as Hikari's brother the others relaxed as they didn't see any harm in him being there. "Well, are you going to introduce me to your friends or what?"

"Oh, where are my manners? Well you already know Daiuske."

"How could I forget? He was after all the kid who would constantly bug you to go out with him. I guess he finally wore you down." Hikari's response was a simple one as she gave her brother a not so light punch to the arm.

"I would resent that remark if the worn down part wasn't close from the truth." Much like with the brother, Daisuke received a punch from Hikari only it was much harder. "I was only joking."

Soon everyone was properly introduced and it seemed like Hikari's brother was cool with all of them. "What are you doing here Taichi?"

The brother, now known as Taichi smiled at his sister. "I thought that I would be a kind older brother and take you out to go get some lunch." A nod of the head from his sister was all that Taichi needed to know what Hikari thought about the idea. "If you want your friends can join us if they want."

"I'm afraid we can't do that." answered Daisuke before Hikari could. "I've got some important stuff that needs to be done and the others are heading out for their vacations. Hopefully you can understand."

"It's completely understandable. Maybe we can do it another time." Sticking his hand out Taichi wanted for Daisuke to accept it. Daisuke would soon shake his hand but while he was doing that he felt an uneasy feeling coming from Taichi. Fortunately Daisuke was able to keep it hidden without drawing any suspicion. "Shall we get going Hikari?"

After saying her goodbyes to her friends and wishing them fun vacations, Hikari hurried off with her brother. As they left, Daisuke watched them from the safety of the shadows. _"What was that feeling that I got from Taichi?"_ Daisuke wanted to go with them but knew that was impossible. _"Damn sun. If it wasn't for it I would've been able to tail them. However, I shouldn't worry be worrying that much. After all, it's her brother. There's no way that Taichi would hurt her. At least I hope so."_

-/-/-/-/-

"I hope you're okay with having lunch at this kind of place." spoke Taichi. "I'm not familiar with this town and this is the only place that seemed good."

"No, it's all right." The two siblings were having lunch at a small but cozy café and were seemingly having a good time.

"Have you heard from mom and dad lately?" Taichi asked hopping that it would help start up a conversation. "Yeah, I have. They phoned me a few weeks ago. They seem to be doing well with them leaving Odiaba for Aizu." Soon their lunches came and after eating some of their food it was Hikari who would restart the conversation. "So, what brings you to Kyoto, brother?"

"Nothing really." he answered simply. "I had some time off and I thought it was a good time as any to spend some of that time by visiting my sister to see how she was doing."

By the expression on Hikari's face she was clearly not buying it. "Why don't you cut the crap and tell me why you're really here? It's not like that I'm not glad to see you but I can tell that you're lying to me."

Realizing that he was found out, Taichi laughed a bit. "I guess I can't hide anything form you. Even when we were kids it was hard to pull anything over you." It was obvious that his sister wanted him to get to the point. "I'm here for a job related assignment and I thought that I'd visit you while I was here."

That explanation seemed to be good enough for Hikari as she gave him an understanding nod. "That's good to hear. You're still working in that business in England?"

"Yes, I am. But like I told you before I can't discuss what I do for them. I could get into trouble if I were to say something that I shouldn't." For a while nothing was said between the two until Taichi spoke up again. "So, what's going on between you and Daisuke? Is there more than friendship between the two of you?"

The question came so out of the blue that Hikari chocked while drinking. "No, of course not." she sputtered out. "What would you get such an idea?"

"Come on now, I may not be the brightest person around but I could tell that there some kind of connection that more than simply friends." Hikari only helped to confirm Taichi's accusation by trying to hide the blush that was coming over her face. "Are you two…together? If you know what I mean."

After composing herself as best as she could, Hikari went ahead and tell him what her brother wanted to hear. "If you're trying to ask if we're a couple, then yes we are. We've been together for a few months."

"And there hasn't been any problems since you two have become a couple?"

"Of course we have our share of problems. What couple doesn't? Fortunately we've been able to get over them and grow stronger. But there are things that still bug me. Not being able to go out expect during the night since he's busy during the day being the main inconvenience."

That last part appeared to get Taichi's attention. "Do you believe that your relationship could become more serious?"

"Becoming more serious?" It sounded like Hikari was saying that more for herself than her brother. "I don't know. Maybe there's a chance but I can't be certain. Why are you so concern about my love life? And don't say that it's because you're being the protective older brother."

Once again being figured out, Taichi went ahead and told her. "All I'm saying is do you like being in Kyoto? I mean, I check out the news and I have to say that it's been really strange. For example, the building for that big corporation blowing up, a strange white light appearing and all the cases of missing or dead people." Unnoticed by her brother was that Hikari became a bit nervous as she knew the reason for most of those incidents happening. "Perhaps you should think about starting over in a new town."

"That's not an option." Hikari quickly retorted. "Despite the strange things that have been happen I've managed to make a good life for myself. I've made great friends and got a caring boyfriend."

Hikari's tirade would've continued but stopped when she placed a hand on her forehead and started to sway slightly in her seat. The bout of dizziness would soon pass and would wave away her brother's concern. "I'm fine, just a little dizzy spell. It's nothing to worry about."

Being content with his sister's words, Taichi let it go. Not long after they finished their lunches. After paying the bill they were about to leave but Taichi said that he had to make an important call. Leaving Hikari so that he could talk in private he made the call. "Yeah, it's me. I've made contact with the target. Commence with the plan."

-/-/-/-/-

"_That about does it."_ In his basement Daisuke had just finished with the examination of any hidden spy devices. Finding any of the devices was harder than he originally thought. Especially since he was doing by himself since the others had left for their vacations. _"Perhaps I was too quick by allowing the others to go when I did. Oh well, there's nothing that can be done about it now."_

As Daisuke wrapped up his search he was about to go back upstairs when he faintly heard something. Thinking that it may be Hikari he went up but remained cautious until it could be confirm.

When he got upstairs he saw standing at the window was a woman who appeared to be a few years older than he was. She had shoulder length orange hair and reddish brown eyes. What she was wearing was a white t-shirt that was tucked into her black jeans. "Hello. May I help you?"

"Perhaps you can." The woman slowly walked over to him but remained close to the uncovered windows which didn't go unnoticed by Daisuke. "Mine name is Sora Takenouchi. I've heard that you're good at handling things."

Curious at what the woman, identified as Sora was talking about, Daisuke asked. "That really depends. What kind of things are we talking about here?"

"I'm talking about strange things. I'm referring to the things that are kept from the public's eye." Catching her drift, Daisuke sat on his desk and motioned for Sora to continue. "Just recently there's been a vampire that has been causing trouble."

With the topic of the conversation involving a touchy subject, Daisuke did his best to act as if he wasn't a vampire himself. "Yeah, vampires are a real hassle. It would perhaps help if you were able to give me information about this vampire. Anything could be useful."

"Well, he's average height, about your height, shaggy brown hair that's similar to yours."

Getting a sinking feeling at what Sora getting at, he asked the question that would very well determine what was to happen next. "By any chance would you know the name of this vampire?"

"As a matter of fact I do." It was at that moment that Sora's attitude changed from passive to hostile. "His name is Dai. However, he has also used the name of Daisuke." As if that was some kind of starting signal, Sora reached into her pocket and pulled out a stake and charged at Daisuke.

With already having the suspicion that this would happen, Daisuke moved out of harm's way. Not allowing this to discourage Sora tried to attack again but was meeting the same results. "Okay, it appears as though you got a problem with me. Care to tell me what that problem is?"

"Like you don't know what's going on." Sora spat out as she continued to try and stake her confused adversary.

Starting to become fed up with the continuous attacks on him, Daisuke decided to stop being on the defensive. On Sora's next lunge with the stake he grabbed the oncoming weapon. "As a matter of act, I don't." With the momentum being on his side at the moment Daisuke used his free hand to grab the front of the shirt of the surprised woman which he then used to help spin around and slam her onto his desk. "Now, are you going to corporate and tell me why you're doing this?"

As he waited for an answer he looked at Sora. It was as though he was trying to find something more to her. When it seemed like he actually found something Daisuke unknowingly loosen his grip on her and a shocked expression came across his face. "Oh, my God. You're a-"

He wouldn't finish what he was going to say as Sora used the slight opening by kicking him in the gut. She followed it up by running for the door. Once regaining his composure, Daisuke went after her and would probably have gotten her if it wasn't for the fact that when she opened the door and allowed the sunlight to come in.

The reaction was immediate as Daisuke quickly hid in the shade to avoid the burning rays of the sun. With no way to prevent her escape he could only look on as Sora ran off. "I never thought that one of them would come after me. What am I going to do about this?"

-/-/-/-/-

Not long after that, Hikari had driven back Daisuke home. She didn't immediately go in as she sat in the driver's seat as another dizzy spell came over her. "This is becoming a pain. These little spells are happening more frequently with each pass day." Much like with the previous spells the dizziness was gone as soon as it came.

When she was sure that she was okay, Hikari went inside and was met with what resembled a war zone. "What in the hell happen here? It looks as though a street fight went through this place."

"Not quite but something that was as bad if not worse." answered Daisuke when he walked into the room. "Don't worry, I'm fine." he added when he noticed the concerned look on Hikari's face. "Just a couple bruises here and there. It's nothing to get concerned over."

"Could you at lease tell me what happen?" For the next half hour Hikari was told about what went on while she was gone. "Are you telling me that all this happened because you fought against a woman?" The only answer she got was a nod of the head from Daisuke. "That's odd. With the exception of Miyako and Serenity there hasn't been a woman who could stand toe to toe with you. Could she be involved with the Takenaka Corporation or even Shishio?"

"It a possibility but I highly doubt it. She didn't seem to be evil. However, there have been accounts of one of them being on the dark side."

"What do you mean by 'them'? I thought you said that there was only one person here?"

"There was one, Hikari. I was referring to what she was." That seemed to confuse Hikari even further. "She's a slayer. To be more precise, she's a vampire slayer." While that was a direct and simplified statement it still didn't help to treat his girlfriend's confuse about the whole situation.

"Sorry if this sounds stupid but what's a slayer? Sounds like a name that would be used for a rock group." Despite himself Daisuke slightly laughed at that comment.

"A slayer is a girl who inherits increased strength, speed and endurance." Daisuke started to explain. "It all started centuries ago when the first slayer infused with the essence of a pure demon so that she could fight the demonic evil of the world. Originally there was only one slayer per generation which only happened when the previous one had died. That all changed when a slayer by the name of Buffy I believe had a spell done to allow every potential slayer to become an actual one. Apparently the woman that was here was one of those potentials."

Before saying anything, Hikari allowed what Daisuke said to sink in. "Then if what you said is true wouldn't that mean that she's one of the good guys? Or did she perhaps switch sides?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time something like that to happen. However I doubt it." disputed Daisuke. "She mostly referred me as Dai which means that whatever information she has on me is of my not so better half."

"Then shouldn't we think about calling our friends back? I mean, if we run into trouble it would be good to have some back up." stated Hikari as if it was the most obvious thing to think.

"No." was Daisuke's simple reply. "Ken, Miyako, Mimi and James are overdue for this time off. Anyways, I think that the two of us can handle this on our own. Wouldn't you say so Hikari?" When no answer came, Daisuke looked to where the girl in question was and saw that she was leaning against a wall and holding her head. Going over he put his hands on her shoulders until she was all right. "You had one of those spells again didn't you?" Daisuke asked even though he already knew the answer.

Seeing that there was no point of denying it, Hikari decided to be honest. "Yeah, it was. But I'm okay now." If that was suppose to help ease her boyfriend's concern it failed.

"This has been going on for a few weeks. Maybe you should go see a doctor." It didn't take a genius to see that Daisuke was worried about his girlfriend's well being.

Touched by his concern for her condition, Hikari looked lovingly at the ensouled vampire. "Don't worry; I already scheduled an appointment for later today. However, maybe I should reschedule it so I can help you with this problem." When she said that, the hold that Daisuke had on her shoulder tightened slightly.

"No. You're rescheduling nothing. You're going to that appointment and that's it." Hikari wanted to argue about it but was stopped when Daisuke continued. "I know that you want to help me with what's going on and I appreciate that. But nothing is more important to me than knowing that you're all right."

Once again Daisuke's words had an affect on Hikari as it stopped any type of argument from starting. _"It's unfair. When I want to argue against his request and he goes ahead and say something like that."_ Leaning over, Hikari gave her boyfriend a short but caring kiss on the lips. "All right, you win. I'll go to my doctor's appointment. Just call me if you find anything."

Similar to what she did, Daisuke gave Hikari a tender kiss. "I promise you I'll call you if anything comes up. Now get going so you're not late." Not wasting another moment, Hikari hurried out of the home but not before giving Daisuke one last look as she went. _"Okay, now it's only finding out more about our unexpected slayer guest."_

-/-/-/-/-

On the other side of town at a moderate motel was the slayer in question. Looking to see that there was no one around Sora went into one of the rooms. "So, how did everything go?" questioned someone that was already in the room.

Turning around Sora was ready to fight whoever was in the room with her but relaxed once she saw who it was. "Oh, it's only you. Back so soon?"

In a chair at the corner of the room was none other than Taichi, the older brother of Hikari. "You're one to talk. Were you already taken care of the target?"

"No I wasn't. He proved to be more formidable than we originally believed. I got the bruises to prove it." Sora lifted up the bottom of her shirt to reveal some dark patches that no doubt would become deep bruising later. "Thankfully by this time tomorrow the bruising will be gone."

"Yeah and you have the quick slayer healing to thank for that." stated Taichi as if it was the most common thing to say.

"I may be thankful but I think it's only to make up for what I'm destined to do." Sora was obviously meaning to what she was bestowed not so long ago. Before they could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Instantly both of them went on guard as they were prepared for the worse. "Don't worry, it's him." Sora informed after looking through the peephole.

With the worry now gone the door was opened and was greeted by a familiar person. The man was a few years older than the other two were, with slicked down bluish hair and black eyes that were behind some small framed glasses. He had an about average physic and that wasn't hidden by the black dress suit that he was wearing. "We were starting to wonder if you would show up at all Mr. Kido."

Even with the hospitality being nearly nonexistent, Kido entered the hotel room. "Please Miss Takenouchi, I asked you numerous times to call me Jyou."

"I'll start calling you Jyou when you call me Sora." said the orange haired slayer. "Why are you here anyways? I thought that people in your position didn't get actually involved in the battlefield like Taichi and I."

"While that maybe the usual case, this is a special situation." remarked Jyou. "As a representative of the watcher's council I'm here to evaluate you two to see if you're ready for whatever is to come or if you are in need of retraining."

"I don't see what the big deal is." exclaimed Taichi who was obviously not amused with their newest guest as well. "If you look at it it's nothing more than taking care of a vampire that has been causing trouble. It's that simple."

"It's not that simple and you know it Yagami." rebutted Jyou and as much as Taichi hated to admit it but he made a good point. "There was a reason why we allowed you to have this assignment. As time goes on you may have to face people that were once your friend, such as now. When the time comes you have to decide if you'll be willing to put an end to them if you have the chance."

Not liking what Jyou was getting at, Taichi got up and got face to face with him. "Now you listen to me you stuck up prick. I might still be new to this whole thing but not once have I done anything that would cause doubt of my loyalty to the cause. Also, don't give us this crap about retraining. Out of all the rookies that the council has, Sora and I are right there at the top and we'll prove it by dealing with Daisuke or Dai or whatever he calls himself, no matter what it takes."

"But what about your sister?" asked Sora, who decided to step in before things became physical. "What if she finds out that you had a part in all of this? Hikari may not realize who the target truly is but she'll be upset if she finds out later." Thankfully Taichi didn't come back with any kind of retort.

"I advice that you listen to Miss Takenouchi's words Yagami." advice Jyou. "There's more to this mission then a simple staking of a vampire. Also you don't even know where he is. Fortunately for you I had an informant who told me where he's heading."

-/-/-/-/-

"Great, it's another bar." Immediately after Hikari left, Daisuke started to search for information on the whereabouts of the orange haired slayer. So for every place he went to he got the same results. Either they had no information or they were too scared to say anything. Whether they didn't want to get on the bad side of a slayer or didn't want to help someone who was killing off other demons, who knows.

At the moment he was at a rundown bar that had both humans and demons in it. The instant he walked in Daisuke could feel the hard stares that he was getting from the people, the majority of them coming from the demons. _"It's looks as though I'm not the most popular person here. Not surprising seeing as how I've killed so many demons."_

Ignoring the glares, Daisuke sat himself down at the bar. "Blood, preferably animal." After paying the bartender gave him his cup of blood. Sniffing it to make sure that it was animal blood and not human he took a drink. As he drank he took further notice of who was in the bar. _"It seems like it'll be close to impossible to get anything from these people. Not willingly that is."_

"What are you doing here vampire?" questioned the bartender in a demanding manner. It was clear that he answer if not to cause a problem.

"Can't I be here just to get a drink of blood?" By the expression on the bartender's face he didn't believe his lame excuse. Deciding that it was pointless to lie, Daisuke went straight to the point. "I'm here to get some information. Tell me, what do you know about a slayer with orange being here in town?"

"I know nothing about any slayer. Now finish your drink and get out." Without waiting for a retort the bartender left Daisuke to his own, not caring what he thought.

Not letting that get him down, the ensouled vampire push that little conversation aside and continued to have his drink. As he drank he would be joined by what could be best described as a man lizard who was wearing all black. "Rumor has it that you want to know about a certain slayer."

Before replying Daisuke took another sip of his drink. "It depends really. How accurate is the information? Be advice that I'm not in the mood to hear anything that isn't useful."

"Oh, it's very useful. But first you need to do something that'll make me tell you what I know." For a while Daisuke simply continued to have his drink. Putting the drink he reached for something inside his coat. Expecting some kind of weapon, the lizard man was ready to run but was surprised that instead of a weapon Daisuke pulled out a small envelope.

Laying it down on the bar Daisuke slid the envelope over. Taking it the lizard man opened it to see that inside it was a large sum of money. "Now that's what I'm talking about. However, this doesn't quite make up for what I want for my information." He patted the money filled envelope to drive his point home. "You need to add more to it if you want what I know."

"Is that a fact?" Once again Daisuke reached into his coat. However, this time it wasn't money that he was reaching for. In an instant he pulled out a knife and rove it through the informant's hand with enough force that part of the knife went through the hand and embedded itself into the bar.

"Now you listen to me you greedy son of a bitch. You tell me everything you know and I may consider letting you go with only a knife wound." To make sure that his threat wasn't taken lightly Daisuke twisted the knife from side to side.

When it became clear that the vampire wasn't kidding around, the lizard man decided to come clean. "All right, I'll tell you everything. I saw the person that you're looking for hanging around the demolished building on Fifth and Astoria. That's all I know, I swear."

"That better be the truth." With a quick yank, Daisuke pulled out his knife and put it back into his coat. "Because if I find out that you're lying to me I'll find you and make you regret it." Not even bothering to response to the not so kind looks from the other occupants in the bar Daisuke walked out, heading for a fight that couldn't be prevent.

-/-/-/-/-

As he was told Daisuke arrived at the demolished building. From what could be gathered it appeared that the building was once a small apartment complex. Most of it was destroyed but there were portions of it still standing. By how all of it was situated it made it hard to see that far ahead. After walking around for a while he stopped and let out an exhausted breath. "I'm getting tired of this. Why don't you stop with the hiding game and show yourself?"

For a while it seemed like he was talking to nobody in particular. That would be proven wrong when coming out from behind one of the destroyed walls was the slayer, Sora. "Apparently it's pointless to hide from you."

"There's that but mostly I just wanted to skip the whole hide in seek part and get right to the actual fighting." There was clearly no fear from both the vampire and slayer as they stared intensely at one another. "Why don't you go ahead and call your friends out as well?"

Caught completely off by his words, Sora lost the intensity on her face and was replaced by confusion. "How did you know? There's no way that you could know that there was anyone else here."

Somewhat taking pleasure of causing his opposition to lose their composure, Daisuke smiled slightly. "I've known of their presence ever since I got here. It wasn't that hard either due to my heighten vampire senses. I thought all slayers knew this." It was than that Daisuke noticed it. It may have been quick but he noticed the twitch of Sora's eyes. "Oh, I see. You're a newbie." His words were proven to be correct as the eye twitching returned to the slayer. "I can't help but be a little offended. Wasn't I worthy enough of having a slayer coming after me that wasn't a rookie?"

"So what if I'm a rookie?" an irate Sora questioned. "Are you saying that I'm not good enough to go against you?" She got her answer as Daisuke simply smirked. "What right do you have to think that?"

As soon as the smirk came it left as Daisuke became serious. "Maybe I have the right because I certainly have more experience in this area than you do." While he spoke he began to head towards her. To Sora's credit the orange haired slayer showed no sign of backing down. "Let's face it. If I were to fight you without holding back you would certainly be on the losing end."

Whether it was the words, the determined look in his eyes or a combination of the two but Sora actually started to become frighten of the vampire with a soul. She even took a step back for everyone that Daisuke took. _"What is this sudden feeling of fear? I've dealt with vampires before so I shouldn't be this scared. However, this time is different. Is it because he's different from any other vampire that I've faced? Or is it because deep down I believe that he may actually end my life?"_ The fear only continued as Sora couldn't sake the feeling that she got whenever she saw the stare that Daisuke was giving her.

Soon Daisuke was within arms reach of Sora and was about to grab her only for him to be stopped when a kunai flew in and struck the ground that was between them. "It would be wise to step away from my friend." informed someone that couldn't be seen. That would be resolved when emerging from his hiding spot was Taichi Yagami.

If this was suppose to shock Daisuke he didn't show it. In fact, it seemed as though he was amused. "Well, I would say that this is a surprise but I would be lying. I already knew that you would be here." For his part Taichi couldn't hide the surprise from hearing that information.

"I knew that something was up when you happen to show up on the same day that a slayer would appear. It was too much of a coincidence if you ask me. Add that to me being able to sense you since I got here and it wasn't hard to figure it out. Speaking of which, you might as well tell that other guy to come out seeing as how he sucks at hiding more than you."

With no point of hiding anymore the other member of their group showed himself and he was Jyou Kido. "So this is all of you that have been trying to take me out. A rookie slayer, a guy trying to be a big man and a man dressed as though he's going to a dinner party. Let me guess, you're from the watcher's council? That question was directed toward Jyou who was a little off about how accurate that Daisuke was about their plans. "Just out of curiosity, what is the council's opinion about the slayers becoming 'close' with those who they fight with?"

Understanding what he was saying, Taichi became furious and was on the verge of attacking the vampire. "That's none of your business!" The enraged many only became more angered when he saw the amused smile on Daisuke face. "That's enough of this. It's time to end this." Daisuke seemed to be okay with that suggestion and they were about to go at it until spoke out.

"Stop it! Stop it this instant." To the surprise of everyone there the one that yelled out was Hikari as she ran into the scene. "What the hell is going on?" When she wasn't getting any answers from her boyfriend she turned to her brother. "Why are you after Daisuke?" She didn't get her answer as he looked away from his sister. "Damn it Taichi, tell me why?"

Hikari's tirade would've continued if she didn't notice one of the others that was with Taichi. "What are you doing here Sora? Why are you taking part in this?" Much like with her brother, Sora was unable to answer her. "I'm totally confused about what's going on here."

"_You're not the only one Hikari."_ thought Daisuke. _"While we may get some answers something tells me that we may end up with even more questions than what we started out with."

* * *

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I bet that some of you weren't expecting that to happen, weren't you? I wasn't thinking about having an actually vampire slayer appear in this story but obviously that isn't the case anymore. Originally I was going to have the slayer be some made up character and have Xander Harris from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' be her watcher. Of course, you can see that I went a different direction.

The reason why I put Sora, Taichi and Jyou into those particular roles is because I thought that those parts really suited them and it gave me a chance to set up some possible problems that can develop between Daisuke and Taichi. As for the dizzy spells that Hikari was having in this chapter, let's just say that it'll be touched on more as the story goes on.

So, until I update again, which will most likely in a day or two, see ya.


	2. Issues Resolved

Here you go with another chapter. The introduction of the slayer and her group was a good moment in this series and a good way to start the story out. Now, here is the next part of the story and hope you like it. As for the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.  
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_So, let us not be blind to our differences – but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved.  
John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)_

Chapter 2:  
Issues Resolved

"Okay, I think it would be best if you were to start from the beginning." Going ahead with the suggestion the story on how Taichi and his comrades got involved and why they were after him. "I see how it is." stated Daisuke after hearing the story.

"You basically came after me because of a report that you got. However, you didn't take the time to see how accurate your information was." Despite his efforts the vampire let a small laugh pass his lips. "Man, you guys must not have been thinking when you decided to go after me. Perhaps I wasn't wrong when I said you were rookies."

That comment didn't go so will with his company as they were greatly angered by what was said, especially Taichi. "You better watch what you say. Just because we haven't done it yet it doesn't mean we won't stick a stake through your heart."

Taichi's tirade would probably have continued if it wasn't for the look that he was getting from his sister Hikari. "That's enough, brother. This isn't the time to be fighting against each other. What we need to do is find out who the real enemy is."

"Hikari's right." added Daisuke. "Whoever sent you that report knew just enough to get you to come after me. By any chance do you know where it came from?"

"As a matter of fact we do." answered Jyou. "It came from someone by the name of Xanatos. We unfortunately were unable to find anything about him."

While that may be the case for them, the same couldn't be said for Daisuke and Hikari. "We know who he is." It wasn't hard to see that whatever way that the two knew of Xanatos it wasn't pleasant. "We shouldn't be that much of a surprise. It seems like something that he would do."

As Hikari spoke Daisuke was in deep thought about what was discovered. _"So you're still causing trouble for us. Aren't you, Shishio?"_

-/-/-/-/-

"Do you mind telling us what you're trying to do?" In a room secluded to those on the outside, a meeting was being held. The meeting was between the vampire Shishio and all three higher up members with the subject being one Daisuke Motomiya. "What possessed you by involving a vampire slayer with our situation?" questioned Samuel Bentson.

"If I correct, you said that you wanted me to distract Daisuke Motomiya so that he doesn't notice what you're trying to do." remarked Shishio calmly. "I just figured that sending someone whose specializes in handling these things after him was a wise move. Too bad she wasn't able to put him down for good though."

"You be wise to watch what you say Shishio." warned Katara. "We may have an alliance but remember your place. While eliminating Motomiya would make things easier it can't be done. He's still a crucial part to our grand plan and until he serves his purpose he is to remain 'alive'. Do we have an understanding?"

Even though it was obvious that he wasn't in favor with the decision, Shishio nodded his head in understanding. "But what shall we do with the newest arrivals?" He was clearly referring to Sora, Taichi and Jyou. "Should we perhaps offer them the opportunity to join our forces?"

The suggestion seemed to be actually considered by Katara and the other higher ups. "That's an interesting suggestion but no. It'd be wiser to simply get rid of them before they cause us trouble." With a nod of understanding of what was being suggested, Shishio left and when he was gone he immediately became the topic of the higher ups' next discussion. "What a self centered bastard that vampire. If it wasn't for him being useful he'd be a pile of dust long ago."

"There's no argument here." added Samuel Bentson. "The only reason that he's still around is because of his vas resources and extensive knowledge about our opposition. Of course, he doesn't know him as well as you do." That last part caused Katara to laugh lightly as a small smile pass her lips.

"To say that I know Daisuke would be an understatement. It was me after all who introduced him into the side of the world that isn't known to the general public and let's not forget that I trained him for all those years." Somewhat of a surprise, Katara's smile was replaced with a frown. "It's unfortunate that he is using what I taught him against us. Oh well, he's chose his side in this battle and like with Shishio once his usefulness has run out he'll meet his end as well."

While those two had their conversation the third and final higher up member, Byron Satori was in heavy thought. _"Idiotic fools. They act as though they truly accomplish something. As long as they do what they are suppose to do it wouldn't matter as I'm destined to get what I have coming."_

-/-/-/-/-

Unbeknownst to the higher ups was that on the other side of the door was Shishio who had heard everything that was said. He had his suspicions about what they plan to do with him once their alliance had ran its course and what he just heard proved that his suspicions were correct. Not wanting to be discovered Shishio headed off while containing his anger.

"_So that's how it is. So be it. That just means that I'll have to move things along. First, I'll get rid of Motomiya then I'll deal with those damn higher ups."_ Not able to hold it in, Shishio allowed a devious smile to come out. _"Once everything is said and done I'll be the only left standing."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Do you think the story that they told us is true?" inquired Sora.

"I don't know." replied Jyou. "It sounds a little farfetched if you ask me." After getting the story about who Xanatos really was they separated into two groups. Currently the orange haired slayer was having a conversation about what was said. "But who knows? After all, we have to deal with unusual things on regular bases. What do you have to say about it Taichi?" When there was no response the two of them looked over to him and saw that Taichi's attention was somewhere else.

The thing that had Taichi's attention was that on the other side of the room was Daisuke and Hikari and what could be seen they were having a heavy discussion. "You know if I didn't know better I would think that they were nothing more than an ordinary couple." For Sora's innocent remark she received a heated glare from her friend. "Oh come on Taichi. If it wasn't for what he was you would be okay with them being together."

"I say that I agree with Ms. Takenouchi." added Jyou that somewhat surprise his comrades. "I may not agree with it but there have been cases where something like this has happen. So it is possible that they may-" Jyou immediately stopped what he was saying as he took notice of the glare that was being sent his way.

"It doesn't matter what I think." stated Taichi calmly. "All I know is that if they stay together either their differences or his true nature will cause them to stop whatever is going on between them which would hurt my sister and that's something I wish to see. Plus, I'm not really in favor of my little sister being in any type of relationship with a vampire."

"If that's how you feel then you probably won't like what's going on right now." Curious on what Sora was talking about, Taichi looked over to where she was pointing to. What he saw was his sister Hikari with Daisuke but they were closer to one another than he liked. He immediately went over to them and he was quickly joined by Sora and Jyou in the hopes that they would stop whatever was to come before it went out a hand.

-/-/-/-/-

"So, he's still around." said Hikari as she and Daisuke talked. "Not that much of surprise don't you think?"

"No, we shouldn't." answered Daisuke with a calm voice. "We know of Shishio's alliance with the higher ups. Add that with me not being his favorite person it was only a matter of time until he would try to end my life again. But I have to admit that getting a slayer to come after me was a clever idea. Anyways, that's enough about that for the moment. How was that doctor's appointment of yours?"

With the discussion switch to the particular subject, Hikari started to fidget a bit. "I'm not exactly sure. They did some tests and took some blood so they can look it over. But from what they could get from the examination they deemed that I was that I was a healthy young woman. Somewhat funny seeing as how they don't know what's been wrong with me lately."

It was clear that Hikari was worried about what could probably be wrong with her but was trying to put up a brave front only for it to crumble slightly. She upset that she didn't even realize that Daisuke was trying to comfort her until he placed a hand lightly on her knee. "You're worried about what could be wrong and that's understandable. Just know that whatever is wrong I'll be here for you and I'll do everything in my power to help."

Those words would deeply touch Hikari as a trace of a thanking smile came over her face. He would return the smile with one of his own. Despite the recent circumstances, Daisuke couldn't help but enjoy the moment that they were sharing. That moment would however be broken when a not so pleased Taichi came over.

"Get your hands off my sister you blood sucker." Even though he clearly heard him, Daisue didn't do as he was told.

"Do you think I'll do what you say when you talk to me like that?" Turning his eeys away from Hikari he looked over to her brother with a glare that matched his. "Besides, I don't think she mind me touching her." Daisuke knew that he could continue with his taunting but chose not to. It really wouldn't be beneficial to get into a fight with a person that you may be fighting along side later on. Also, it probably was a good idea to keep how far his and Hikari's relationship has come.

"Let's get whatever issues that is between us, right here and now Taichi. Obviously you've got a problem with me being involved with your sister and know what, I don't care. I don't give a shit whether you're for or against our relationship." Daisuke was being quite animate with what he was saying. "Just so you know, if you try to break us up, so help me God, I'll make you regret it."

The already high tension that was already between the two and it was only getting more intense by the second. When it seemed like they were about to go at it they were stopped when both Hikari and Sora got between them and pushed them back in the hopes that it would prevent a fight from happening.

"That's enough you guys." spoke Hikari as she tried to play peacemaker. "We're not suppose to be fighting one another."

"Hikari's right." added Sora. "You guys are being completely stubborn here. We should be going after this Shishio guy instead of each other."

Thankfully it seemed like the two women's words had gotten through to them as they further the distance themselves from each other. It wasn't what they hoped for but at lease they weren't trying to kill each other.

Their focus would be soon be diverted when something came crashing through the window. Being the close, Jyou looked out the window to see who threw the item. All he saw was a car with tinted windows driving off. Going over to the thing that was thrown Daisuke picked it up.

The thing that was thrown was as rock but what really caught everyone's attention was that there was some kind of note wrapped around it. Freeing the note Daisuke read what was written and when he was uncertain what to make of it as he handed it over to Hikari. Instead of reading it to herself she decided to read it out loud so that everyone would know what was written.

"Greetings Motomiya and to all those who is with him. As you may already know, I am the one who is responsible for what has been transpiring lately. But I must say that I've become tired of this game. That is why I've decided that we should put an end to it. Come to the location enclosed in the letter by sun set. Bring anything you want as in the end it won't matter. From the bringer of your death, Shishio."

Nothing was said by anyone as they allowed what was written in the letter to sink in. It wasn't until Daisuke went to the weapons' cabinet that someone spoke up. "Daisuke, you can't possible be thinking about actually going after Shishio." inquired Hikari. "It's obviously a trap."

"I already know that Hikari." Daisuke responded without turning around. "However, this could work to our advantage. Instead of us searching for Shishio he's saved us the trouble by giving us an already designed battlefield. Anyways, I want to end things between the two of us. But a question needs to be asked." In a surprising move, Daisuke tossed a crossbow to Taichi who caught it. "Are you in or are you out?"

-/-/-/-/-

"Maybe we should rethink this Daisuke." said Hikari. It was about sun set and at the moment both her and Daisuke were on the verge of going into the building that Shishio was in. "We should at least wait until we're able to make contact with Ken and the others."

"We can't wait that long Hikari." retorted Daisuke. "It'll take too long for them to get back and by the time that they do show up we may lose this opportunity. Besides, we should have sufficient back up." That last remark was directed right towards the group that was with them.

"Don't worry, we can hold up our end." Taichi quickly retaliated for what was said. With very little convincing, Taichi, Sora and a somewhat reluctant Jyou agreed to come with Daisuke and Hikari. Even though they were teaming up it didn't mean that the tension that still remained. "So, how are we going to do this?"

"We're doing this in two groups. In one group it'll be me and Hikari and the other will be you three." Soon as that plan was said it was argued by not surprisingly, Taichi.

"What the hell kind of plan is that? Instead of going into groups we should stay together so we won't be more out numbered than we already are." Though they didn't voice it born Sora and Jyou were siding with their comrade.

Before answering, Daisuke took a few calming deep breaths to prevent the first thing that he wanted to say as it would only make things worse. "Listen. While going at this as a single group would ordinarily be a good move, it wouldn't be for this. If we were to stay together it would be easier for them to surround us. At least if we were to split up the chances of one of the groups making it would be better than going together.

With great reluctance, Taichi had to admit that what Daisuke had said were points but wasn't ready to tell him that. "You may have made some good points, there's still a problem with your suggestion. The groups won't be even sine there's an odd number of people."

Daisuke was about to make some sort of retort when his attention was suddenly turned else where. Whatever it was caused him to smile. "I don't think that'll be a problem." He didn't even bother to elaborate as someone made their presence known. While the three newer people immediately went on the alert, both Daisuke and Hikari didn't seem the lease bit concern. "It's good to see that you decided to come here after all. For a while I thought that you wouldn't show up."

The newcomer couldn't help but smile that was similar to the one that Daisuke had earlier. "What can I say? You caught my interest with that call you gave me. How could I pass it up?" That response had Daisuke and Hikari laughing while the three other people looked on in confusion.

"Not to sound rude or another but who is she?" asked Sora who thankfully was being more considerate than her two companions.

"Allow me to make the introductions." stated Hikari before anyone else could say a word. "Say hello to Serenity Motomiya. She is Daisuke's daughter."

"Just call me Serenity." corrected said girl. "Even if we may share the same blood it doesn't mean that we're family." It was then that she really took notice of the three people that she didn't know, especially Sora. "So these are the people who have been causing you problems. They don't seem all that much to me. Though, the same may not be said about the girl. But that shouldn't be surprising coming form a slayer. Even though, she doesn't seem much of one if you ask me."

Much like with her friend, Sora didn't take took kindly to what Serenity had said. Sensing an oncoming fight between the two super strong women, Daisuke stepped in before things got out a hand. "Can we hold off any issues that are going on between us until we deal with what we came here for?" Thankfully there weren't any arguments. "Good. Now since there were 'problems' with how I was planning things I'll allow someone else to decide how we do this."

It was no secret that the person that Daisuke was referring to was Taichi who was apparently being put in charge. When the shock of the unexpected move diminished, Taichi assumed the leadership role. "I suggest that we split into two teams of three." Unable to hid it, a look of disbelief came over Daisuke's face.

"Group one will be Sora, Hikari and…Serenity. The other will be me, Daisuke and Jyou. The objective is to find where Shishio is. If you find him don't fight him. Find the others so we can fight together. Is there any questions?" There wasn't any. "Then let's get moving."

Being as careful as possible the six of them entered the building where they then broke into their assigned groups before they went their separate ways. Unknown to them however, was that their every move was being watched by cameras that were being feed directly to Shishio.

-/-/-/-/-

"So far there's nothing. There's absolutely nothing." exclaimed Serenity who was quickly getting annoyed with the searching. "I don't see why we can't simply cause a ruckus and let Shishio come to us. He was after all the one who set out the challenge."

"That's besides the point." spoke Sora who was trying to keep in the issues that she had with the young woman. "Shishio may know that we're coming but it doesn't mean that we have to let him know that we're already here. You know to have the element of surprise on our side. Anyways, we should stay with Taichi's plan and don't actually confront Shishio unless all of us are together."

Serenity merely scoffed at the vampire slayer. "Who are you trying to kid? This wasn't really your boyfriend's plan. All he did was slightly modify the plan that Daisuke originally had."

"Taichi's not my boyfriend!" shouted a red face Sora. "The thought may have come from Daisuke but it was Taichi who put everything together." Taking a deep breath, Sora calmed herself before continuing. "Just trust Taichi. Your father has."

"I've told you before. Daisuke may be my father but it doesn't mean that we're family. Also, I wouldn't be so sure about Daisuke trusting your boyfriend. More likely than not he's only going along with what's going on because he wants to keep an eye on Taichi in case he does something foolish. But from what I could tell that'll be easier said than done."

Once again Serenity and Sora were about to go at one another but like before, someone prevent it only this time it was by Hikari. "Quit it you guys. This isn't the time for that. We got a job to do." That seemed to be enough to put a stop to the fight. "Good. Now let's get back to work."

"You're no fun." muttered Serenity. "You've been around Daisuke too long." Hikari didn't take offense at the young woman's comment as she knew that she was trying to be mean.

Despite herself, Hikari lightly laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment. I mean, he's my boyfriend after all."

When she heard that, Sora couldn't help but ask the question that she had for quite sometime. "Why are you even with him Hikari?" It was obvious to who the person that Sora was referring to. "I mean, you're human and he's a vampire. What would make you want to get in a relationship that the chances of it being successful are nearly nonexistent? I just don't get it."

Hikari had a thoughtful look on her face. "It's because it doesn't matter to me _what_ he is but it's _who_ he is. For me Daisuke is the person who's been there whenever I needed him and even after being turned I see that he continues to try his best to help others. Even if it means that he gets hurt in the process. That's some of the many reasons why I've fallen in love with Daisuke."

The conversation would probably have continued if it weren't for them entering a room that didn't seem to be anything special. That would change when suddenly a group of vampire thugs appeared and surrounded them. "So much for having the element of surprise on our side." muttered Serenity as she prepared to fight at a moments notice.

"There's nothing that can be done about it now." cited Sora as she too readied herself for a fight. "We can only deal with what's in front of us."

Following the lead of her two comrades, Hikari got herself prepared for what was to come. "Sora's right. We have to deal with what's in front of us before dealing with anything else." "I only hope that Daisuke and the others are fairing better than we are."

-/-/-/-/-

"We just had to step in it, didn't we?" muttered Daisuke as he struggled with what was before him. Much like with their female companions, the males were involved in a scuffle with some vampires of their own.

"You didn't really expect things to be that easy did you?" retorted Taichi who was having trouble with his opponent. So far they were able to handle themselves as they managed to dust a few vamps and that included Jyou who was proving himself. "We can only deal with what's in front of us and hope for the best."

"No shit Sherlock. I already knew that." Putting an exclamation point on it, Daisuke cut the head off of a vampire resulting in it becoming dust. Soon only the three of them were left standing as several piles of dust were all around them. "See, that wasn't so hard."

"This isn't really a time to gloat." interrupted Jyou who casually kicked one of the dust piles. "Those vamps were too easy to deal with. They were practically pushovers."

"Now that you mention it you're right." added Taichi. "It was almost as though they were nothing more than sacrificial lambs. As if they were simply to keep us from going any further than this room."

"Very perceptive of you young one." proclaimed an unknown voice. "I must say that I'm impress. I had no doubt you'd defeat my men but not as quickly as you did. Perhaps in a way I was still underestimating you three."

The three men didn't really listen to what was actually being said as they tried to find out where the voice was coming from. That was proving to be difficult as it seem like it was coming from every direction. It wasn't until Daisuke heard an unusual sound behind one of the walls. Realizing what that sound was he quickly warned Taichi and Jyou. "Get down!"

No sooner did they hit the ground that one of the walls exploded. After everything appeared to have calm down the three of them got up and saw that as a result of the explosion a new passage way was revealed. At the end of the passage was a man in a chair. While Taichi and Jyou didn't recognize the man, Daisuke did and judging by the hatred that came across his face they weren't friends.

Literally seething Daisuke headed over to the man, not caring if his two comrades were following him. "Why am I not that surprise?" You could almost fell the hate that the vampire hero had for the man who didn't seem the lease bit concern by it. "Sacrificing your own men without any remorse and making it so that we split up our forces. It's been a elaborate plan by the person behind the whole thing, Shishio."

To his credit, the man who was now identified as Shishio laughed. "So you remember me Motomiya. I'm touched." By the way he talked it was apparent that Shishio wasn't concern with his opposition in the slightest. "It shouldn't be that much of a surprise. After all, I was for a time your driving force in becoming what you were. Not caring about anything but getting revenge of me. Does Edo ring a bell?"

The reminding of that incident sickened Daisuke as that was something that he wished to forget. "That was a long time ago. I was a different person back then." Gaining even more determine he clenched his fists and glared defiantly against Shishio. "You're right in saying that I was obsessed with you but that isn't me anymore. I now try to help others and to prevent people like you to cause suffering to innocent people." Daisuke felt good after saying those words. That feeling wouldn't last long however as a big smile came across Shishio's face.

"Is that a fact? Let's test that." With a snap of his fingers some of Shishio's lackeys showed up but they weren't alone. Being dragged along were Hikari, Serenity and Sora. Each of them had their hands bound but it seemed like the binding that were used for Sora and Serenity were extra strong. Apparently Shishio was more prepared than any of them realized.

"If you truly have changed then you'll have no trouble proving it." He then inexpertly tossed a wooden stake to Taichi. "If you wish to protect your female companions then you'll allow your teammate to stake you in the heart." Such a request startled Daisuke and his allies. "Refuse then you all will die here. You decide."

Now all the attention of everyone in that room was focus on Daisuke and Taichi as they wonder what they would do. "Well, what are you waiting for?" questioned Daisuke. "Do it already. Stake me in my non-beating heart." To say that what the vampire with a soul was unexpected was a shock would be an understatement. Even Shishio was taken back by what he said. "Let me make it easier for you." Daisuke allowed his face to go vamp.

"This shouldn't be that hard for you. You've killed demons before so what's one more vampire to you?" If to goad Taichi even further, Daisuke spread his arms out to leave himself wide open. "This is what you wanted to do in the end wasn't it? You don't want me to be with your sister and here is your opportunity to make sure that it doesn't. Also don't forget that you slayer friend will die as well if you don't drive that stake through my heart."

"Don't you do it Taichi!" yelled Hikari who was being restrained by one of Shishio's men. "If you kill him I'll never forgive you."

"Listen to your sister damn it." added Serenity as she tried to free herself from her restraints. "This isn't right and you damn well know it."

Taichi now was being hesitant in what he was going to do. As he tried to come with a decision he gripped the stake so hard that it was close to breaking the skin. The words that were said by his sister and Serenity continued to go through his head and it just made it harder to make a decision. While Taichi tried to decide he happened to catch a glance at Sora. Even though no words were spoken he still knew what she was thinking.

Taking some calming breaths he looked at Daisuke as if he finally decided on what to do. Lifting the stake Taichi positioned himself within striking distance. To his credit, Daisuke didn't even attempt to defend himself. "Are you ready for what's to come?" The ensouled vampire merely nodded his head. With an understanding between the two the demon fighter readied to strike.

However, instead of driving the stake through Daisuke's heart, Taichi threw it straight at the man that was restraining Sora. Being unprepared for such a move the man could do nothing as the stake struck him in the left shoulder. With the opening now presented to her, the orange haired slayer gave the now wounded man a stiff side kick to the gut that rendered him unconscious.

"What are you waiting for? Get her!" ordered an irate Shishio. H ewas already upset by waiting for Motomiya to be killed and with what just took place it only infuriate the sinister vampire even more.

Not wanting to suffer the wrath of their master, the remaining servants were about to go after Sora until the two other hostages went into action. Unlike their comrade an opening wasn't given to them so they made one. Acting first, Serenity delivered a vicious back kick that made every man to groan in unison as the kick connected between the man's legs. Following her example, Hikari did a similar kick which was followed by a two-handed smash when her captor was bent over in pain.

"They weren't expecting that were they?" chided a very amused Sora.

"I guess they didn't." answered Hikari. It was clear by how she was acting that she wasn't so happy with what she had to do. "But do you think that we over did it a bit?"

"Hell no." was Serenity's response. "They got what was coming to them." While she talked she was searching through the pockets of the three unconscious men. Whatever Serenity was searching for she apparently had found it. "Ah, here it is." What she found was the key to their restraints which she used to remove them from all three of them.

Now with that little obstacle out of the way the sides now composed the six of them against an enraged Shishio who was angrier than ever before. _"Damn them. How dare they try to make me look like some kind of fool? They will pay._" To his credit, the vampire villain managed to keep his composure to the point that he was able to think clearly. "You six probably think that you're something don't you?" All he got for an answer were somewhat amused looks on some of the faces of his adversaries. "Then I should do something to fix that." With a shout more of his men came in and it was clear to see that they were tougher than the previous three. "Take care of them. Show no mercy."

Following their orders, the vampire minions attacked and as this went on Shishio made his exit which didn't go unnoticed. "Shshio's escaping. We got to stop him before he gets away." established Daisuke. That of course was easier said than done as fighting the men were proving quite difficult.

"Go after him Daisuke." Hikari shouted surprisingly. "We'll handle these guys. Now get going before it's too late." Daisuke was obviously reluctant in leaving his friends to defend themselves. "What are you waiting for? We can take care of ourselves so get going." It was only than did Daisuke went after Shishio, not knowing that someone would be following him in a little while.

-/-/-/-/-

"_Where the hell did that son of a bitch go?"_ Running as fast as his lets would allow Daisuke went after Shishio. Unfortunately though he hadn't caught up with him as of yet. _"He couldn't have gotten that far. He ran off only a minute before I did."_ Coming to a stop Daisuke began to look around. _"He's close. I can feel it."_

That feeling would become valid as Shishio would reappear when he tried to ambush Daisuke from above. "I had a feeling that you'd do something like that."

Despite himself, Shishio allowed a smile to come out. "What can I say, it was worth a shot. Apparently I underestimated your ability to sense my presence. Perhaps it has to do with me being your sire and all."

"Maybe it is or maybe it isn't. Who cares?" The whole subject about being sired by Shishio was something that Daisuke didn't want to be minded of. "All it means is that you have to deal with me face t face. So are you going to fight me yourself or are you going to back out like a coward and let someone fight your battles for you? After all, that seems to be your style." That little remark must've really stung as Shishio completely got rid of the smug attitude as it was replaced with anger.

"For that you'll endure an unimaginable pain before I kill you." Not even allowing Daisuke to comeback with a retort, Shishio went at him with a vicious assault that was so relentless that the ensouled vampire could do nothing more than defend. "Is this really all that you're capable of? What a disappointment. If I knew that you were this pathetic then I would've killed you while in Edo."

The mentioning of that incident caused Daisuke to lower his guard. Even though it was only for a moment it was long enough to give the villainous vampire the opening to deliver a serious blow to his opponent's chest as there was now a long gash going across.

Not allowing his latest injury to affect him, Daisuke readied to continue the fight. But wanting to and being able were two different things as he fell to a knee as he tried taking a step forward. _"What's going on? I've taken more serious injuries than this. So why do I feel as though all of my strength is leaving me?"_

"Ah, it appears as though you're feeling the affects of the poison that came with the gash that you received. Quite a nasty one I might add. " informed Shishio to his unasked question. "Once it enters the blood stream it renders the person severely weaken, even if that person is a vampire."

Daisuke could only curse as his enemy as the poison had rendered him weak. _"This is bad. I'm too weak to do anything to defend myself. It's taking all the strength that I still have to remain on one knee. If Shishio were to attack now I'll certainly meet my end."_ To Daisuke's dismay his concerns would become reality as Shishio readied to attack.

"I grow tired of this. You're obviously weaker than you're demon half, Dai." Daisuke couldn't help but cringe at being compared to his darker half. "There's so much untapped potential in you that's it's almost a shame to kill you." From a casual observer it would seem as though Shishio was being sincere with his words but that wasn't the case. "However that potential will never truly be realized as you allow that pathetic human half to weigh you down. So I might as well take your life now."

With that Shishio prepared to deliver the final blow to a defenseless Daisuke who was unable to move at all. Despite what seemed to be the end of him, Daisuke didn't show any fear as he stared at the soulless villain right in the eye. However, before the blow could be delivered something happen that changed everything.

Clutching at his chest as if trying to grab at something, Shishio turned around. It was then that Daisuke saw the stake that was sticking in his back. "Y-You…bastard." hissed Shishio at the person who snuck up on him.

"What can I say, I can be a real bastard when I want to be." In one quick gesture the surprise attack plunged a second stake into Shishio only this time it was in the heart. With one finally curse the evil known as Shishio met his end as he was rendered as nothing more than dust. "That takes care of that problem."

There was nothing said between Daisuke and his savior as neither knew what to do next. The silence would finally be broken when the rescuer spoke up. "Well, are you going to get up or are you going to stay there all day?"

"Shut the hell up." Daisuke immediately retaliated. "I didn't need your help. I could've taken care of him on my own." He tried to get back to his feet but was having trouble due to the poison that was going through his body. As he continued to struggle the rescuer came over and stuck his hand out to him and with some reluctance Daisuke accepted. While being helped he let out a small thank you to the person who saved him.

"Don't be thanking me. I just didn't want to hear my sister bitch about you getting killed." Daisuke's response would be a short and to the point.

"Screw you, Taichi." Indeed the person who saved him was Hikari's older brother Taichi. The brief moment of irritation was gone as Daisuke allowed a small smirk to come over his face. "Now that I think of it you should be thanking me. If it wasn't for me gaining Shishio's attention you would never have had the opportunity to attack him."

"Screw you Daisuke." Even if he responded with a snide remark Daisuke could tell that Taichi didn't mean any harm by it. "We should get going. The others are most likely waiting for us."

-/-/-/-/-

"So, Shishio is dead?" In a hidden conference room the three higher ups were having an important discussion. The topic of their discussion was of the report that they received about what transpired with the fight against Shishio.

"It appears so Samuel." established Katara. "We underestimated our enemy and in doing so we have lost a powerful resource." By her tone it sounded like the female higher up member wasn't all that upset about the lost. "Oh well, it may have turn out for the best. Shishio's usefulness was coming to an end and we would've gotten rid of him eventually."

"What we would or wouldn't do with Shisio isn't important since he's no longer in the picture." spoke Byron in an eerie calm voice. "What is important is that we're now closer in completing our grand plan and once that is done there'll be nothing that can stand in our way." An almost maniacal laugh would come from the lead higher up and was soon joined by his two associates.

-/-/-/-/-

"Now tell me, does that help make things better?" What Hikari was referring to was the patch up job that she had done for the wounded vampire.

"Yeah it does." Grabbing his shirt Daisuke carefully put it on but left it unbuttoned. "Fortunately it appears as though the medicine that you gave me helped get rid of the poison. So all I really need now is rest and I'll be as good as new. Thanks a lot Hikari. I truly appreciate it."

Try as she might Hikari couldn't fully suppress the blush that came from those kinds words. "Thanks but as much as I would like to I can't fully accept your appreciation. After all, it wasn't me who came up with the medicine that helped you. If you want to give anyone thanks you should give it to them."

The people that Hikari was referring to were Taichi and his group as they stationed themselves as far away from Daisuke and his group. Like them they were doing moments ago they too were treating the injuries that they had sustained. Thankfully their injuries weren't anything serious and would recover from them after some rest.

"I don't see why you're allowing them to stay here." Serenity openly exclaimed. "I mean, they really didn't do anything to help."

"Then what do you call when my brother dusted Shishio?" Hikari's question took Serenity by surprise as she never expected for her to come back with any kind of retort that it took her a while to come up with a response.

"Oh come on. That's not really saying much seeing as how he had to sneak up behind him to do it." Wanting to prevent a possible argument from starting, Daisuke decided to intervene.

"How it was done doesn't matter. What does is that we no longer have to worry about Shishio and can focus on whatever the higher ups are planning. You know that they're up to something and it certainly won't be good for us."

"Yeah, you go ahead and do that." Serenity muttered as she headed for the door. "As for me, I'll be heading home. I'll tell Jun what happen and that everything is all right." With that the rebellious daughter of Daisuke left, leaving the five people alone.

Both groups didn't say anything and it wouldn't be until Hikari spoke that the silence was broken. "So, what's next for you guys? Are you going to be staying around for a while?"

"Afraid not." answered Sora. "We only came here to deal with an issue that we were told about. While we may have been misinformed we still managed to eliminate a dangerous vampire. Now it's time for us to go to our next assignment. That is of course if Taichi and I aren't in need of retraining."

The orange haired slayer had of course directed her last remark toward Jyou Kido who was leaning against the wall. "That won' be necessary." informed the glasses wearing council member. "I came along to evaluate both of you to see if you were ready to deal with what comes your way. While there were times that you did some questionable things you both proved yourselves."

Jyou would finally turn his head to make his point to the two that he was talking to. "It's therefore that both rookie vampire slayer, Sora Takenouchi and watcher trainee, Taichi Yagami are full fledged graduates." He would follow with a small respectful bow in their direction. "I'm deeply honored to work with you not as subordinates but as equals."

Try as they might the two mentioned people couldn't contain the gratitude that they were feeling. They weren't the only ones as both Daisuke and Hikari were happy for their good fortune. "Now we shouldn't be wasting anymore time here and he heading back to headquarters." While Jyou was already, heading out, Taichi and Sora stayed back to say some parting words.

"Well, it's been nice meeting you." stated Sora. Exchanging a quick hug with Hikari she was about to head out but turned to the vampire hero. "I hope we have the opportunity to meet each other again in the future. I mean, even if you are a vampire you're still quite a cutie." Despite himself, Daisuke blushed from the slayer's words and also happen to catch the look of irritation on Hikari's face. He probably would've found the situation more amusing if the circumstances were different.

Daisuke's attention would turn away from Sora and to Taichi as the two were practically face to face with one another. The tension between the two could be felt by all those around as no one knew what was going to happen next. As if coming to some sort of understanding Taichi turned around to leave without saying a word. Before leaving though he shared a hug with his sister and whispered a few words to Hikari which she responded with a nod of the head.

With nothing left to hold them up the three guests started to leave but Taichi stopped at the doorway. "If you hurt her in anyway I'll kill you." By his tone it was clear that the new full fledged watcher was completely serious. Looking over his shoulder Taichi stared straight at Daisuke. "Do we have an understanding?"

Showing no sighs of wavering, Daisuke reached over and brought Hikari closer to him. "You don't have to worry about that. If I ever did hurt her I would gladly take my own life." That seemed to be good enough for Taichi as he left with his two comrades.

"Ah, it finally seems like we can take it easy with our recent issues having being dealt with. Even if this little break will only be for a short while." Glancing over to his girlfriend, Daisuke gave a flirtatious smile. "Is there anything that you would like to do while we have the time?"

With a matching smile Hikari leaned closer to where their chests were touching. "Oh, I think we can come up with something." After exchanging a tender kiss Daisuke lifted her off the ground bridal style. "It seems like you don't want to waste any time do you?" All Hikari got for an answer was another kiss as they headed toward the room of the ensouled vampire.

-/-/-/-/-

_"It's so good to be home."_ It was the early hours of the day and Hikari had just returned home after spending the night at Daisuke's. _"Thankfully we got all day tomorrow to recover from everything that's been happening recently."_

Nearly overcome with exhaustion Hikari wanted nothing more than go to bed for a long rest when her telephone rang. She thought about ignoring it at first but thought otherwise. "Hello, this is Hikari Yagami. May I ask whose calling?"

"This is doctor Ryomaru. I was the doctor that you came to see yesterday."

"Ah, yes, I remember." A feeling of concern swept over Hikari about the reason of the phone call. "Can I assume that the reason why you called is because of the physical that I took?"

"Yes it is. As you know we performed many tests to discover the reason behind your recent dizzy spells. I apologize that it took a while to call you with the results but I wanted to make sure that they were accurate." The feeling that Hikari already had only grew by what has been said. "From what we have gathered it has been determined that you are…"

* * *

I know, I have end another chapter with a cliffhanger. Don't worry though because the whole Hikari thing that I've been doing at the moment will be dealt with soon. No hints but I believe that most of you will be surprise about what I have plan. 

With this chapter I've took out the character, Shishio. It had to be done though since his role had ran its course and because he wasn't the main enemy of this story. Remember, even though he was somewhat of the adversary for the heroes in the past story or so but he was mostly doing the work of the higher ups.

Before I end this I want to clear something that you may have been wondering about. That being why I had Ken, Miyako, Mimi and James absent in these last two chapters. The reason is that I couldn't really put them into this story without making it somewhat force. Also because these chapters were centered around Daisuke, Hikari and the slayer group.

Anyways, I hoped you liked how the story has been going and if so then you'll like where it'll be going in the upcoming chapters. Until then, see ya and please leave a review. I know that people are reading my stories but the reviews do help to get me to work on these stories.


	3. Protecting Yourself Or Others

Hey there everyone, here is another chapter for you to read. Before I continue I want to say that I'm dedicating this chapter to my grandmother who recently passed away. While I know that it was her time it still pains me to know that she's no longer here.

Well, back to the actual chapter, I hope you like what happens here and not to waste anymore of your time, go ahead and read it. For the disclaimer, I don't digimon.

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* * *

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_The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.  
John Dewey (1859 - 1952)_

Chapter 3:  
Protecting Yourself  
Or Others

"Serenity, we need to talk."

"Look, I'm sorry about what happen. I screwed up." What Serenity was referring to was what took place on the latest mission that they were returning from. It was the usual extermination of a vampire nest that was being established close to a school. With the limited man power the plan was to wait for the most opportune time to strike.

The plan was simply yet effective for the situation. However, such a plan was thrown out the window when Serenity grew impatient and jumped into action. Left with no other choice they were forced to fight and thankfully when it was all said and done every vamp that was a part of the nest were killed without Daisuke and his group sustaining any serious injuries.

"It has nothing to do about that. Or maybe in a way it does." Daisuke remained quite in the hopes that his daughter would some how understand what he was implying. "For as long as we've know each other you've always been so driven in what you want to do. And it is there that the problem lies. You're so focus on fighting that you don't allow yourself the opportunity to enjoy life."

"What are you talking about? Why would enjoying life be so important?" The line of talking that her father was going was confusing Serenity but she wasn't about to let him know that. "As long as I'm able to handle what comes my way it shouldn't matter what I do otherwise."

"Don't be a feel." Any further rebuttal that Serenity may have had went out the window by the forcefulness that was behind Daisuke's words. "While it's true that you have the strength to handle whatever comes your way. However, by relying solely on strength you'd lose sight of the purpose of that strength."

Thankfully what Daisuke was saying had caught enough of Serenity's attention that she didn't even attempt to interrupt him. _"What is he talking about? The purpose of strength is so that you can defeat anyone that stands your way. It's so simple that even an idiot can figure it out."_

"For most people they believe that the reason for strength is so they can defeat whoever is in their way." It was somewhat weird hearing Daisuke talking the way he was as there was an unusual calm in his voice. "While that may be a reason it isn't _the_ main reason. It's so you can protect those who are dear to you. If you allow yourself to be consumed by wanting to destroy all your enemies you'll lose sight of what truly matters. Believe me; I learned that the hard way." Serenity chose not to say anything as at the moment it wouldn't be wise to interrupt her father.

"That is why I wish for you to do something for me. Tomorrow I want you to take the entire day off." Daisuke's request caught her off guard as she had no clue to what he was going with this line of talking. "Go out in the town and see how the people within it live. As you do this, ask yourself this. What's the point of having strength if you don't use it to protect those who we hold close to our heart?"

With apparently nothing more to say it her, Serenity left without turning back once. "Do you think she'll do what I asked?" questioned Daisuke to Hikari who was the only other person in the room and had remained quiet during the entire conversation that was between father and daughter.

"To be honest I don't know. But I believe that you caught enough of her interest that she may go along with what you asked." Walking over she stood beside Daisuke before placing herself on his lap. "Hopefully she'll come to understand the lesson that you're trying to teach her."

Putting his arms around Hikari's waist, Daisuke brought her closer to him. "I certainly hope so. It'd be better for her learning it the way that I suggested instead of someone close to her dieing before her eyes. We know this to be true." Hikari knew that Daisuke was referring to the third original member of their group, the late Takeru Takashi. Even if it had been close to two years since their friend's noble death it was still a sensitive for them.

"I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to you guys. You're just as much of my family as my actual family." Holding his girlfriend even closer her began to plant several kisses up and down the head and neck of Hikari. "All of you I hold close to my heart. That goes especially for you Hikari."

While receiving the kisses from her boyfriend was something that she greatly enjoyed, the nagging feeling that she recently been having started to resurface. "Is something the matter?" asked Daisuke with some concern.

Coming out of her thoughts, Hikari looked at the ensouled vampire in confusion. "I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about." She was of course lying but hoped that she did a convincing enough job to deceive him. However, the disbelieving look that he was giving her proved otherwise.

"Who are you trying to feel here? I now you well enough to know when there's something troubling you." With her façade being discovered Hikari no longer tried to hide what she was feeling. "Lately you've been a bit hesitant when a battle takes place. Even today, while you fought your fair share it was clear that you were relying mostly on defense which isn't really your style. Please tell me what's wrong."

With the piling guilt for keeping things hidden and the almost pleading of her boyfriend, Hikari decided to go ahead and come clean. "You're right Daisuke. There has been something that I've been keeping from you. It has to do with the test results that I took when I went to the doctor." Gathering some additional courage she continued with her confession. "From the tests the doctor was able to determine that…"

-/-/-/-/-

"Welcome to the Takenaka Corporation. How may I help you?" a young receptionist asked as she did her job by sitting at the reception desk to help the person that stood before her.

The man who stood in front of the desk was a man in his mid to late twenties. He had very short brown hair, green eyes and was wearing a gray business suit. "Yes, I'm here to see the people in charge in regard of something important." As if to elaborate what he said, the man lifted the briefcase that he was carrying for the woman to see. "Let's just say that I have something that they'll be interested in knowing about."

"Ah yes, Mr. Iori Hida. We've been expecting you." informed the woman to the main identified as Iori. "If you go to the fourth floor and the room at the end of the ahll you'll have your talk." Giving a quick thank you to the receptionist Iori went over to the elevator. He had a casual smile when he got in but it would quickly vanish when the elevator doors closed and was replaced by a look of determination.

-/-/-/-/-

"What do you mean that you don't know what I'm talking about?!" From the outburst that could be heard throughout the hall it was clear that Iori didn't like how the discussion was going.

"It's like what I said before Mr. Hida." answered a calm Samuel Bentson who wasn't showing any sign of accepting or denying his guest's accusations. "This company is only involved in only medical chemicals and supplies. To even suggest some of the things that we apparently have done would be laughable if it wasn't insane." Despite his words Samuel let out a small laugh. "Besides, you don't have anything to prove your claims."

"The hell I don't!" Slamming his briefcase onto the table Iori opened it to allow its contents to spill out. Across the table were numerous papers and reports about some sort of future event. "So you know, these aren't the originals but are merely copies."

After glancing over some of the reports the once unexpressive look on Samuel's face was gone and was replaced with surprisingly one of amusement. "I must say very impressive, Mr. Hida. Mind telling where you got such information?"

"I rather not say. Let's just say that you've become sloppy with cleaning up your mess." That seemed to strike a nerve with Samuel as his right eye twitched ever so slightly. It wasn't much but it was enough for Iori to notice. "A little word of advice, if you're thinking about making me disappear like your previous problems I would think twice about it. Copies of my discovery are with several reliable sources and if something were to happen to me they will release them to every laws enforcement and media outlet in the country."

Iori could literally feel the hatred that Samuel was directing towards him. "I'll give you until tomorrow night to put an end to that plan of yours and if you don't then prepare to have this entire company torn wide open."

With nothing else to say, Iori walked out, leaving all the stuff that he brought with him on the table. When he was gone, Samuel allowed his frustration come out as he swept the papers to the floor. Once regaining his composure he reached over and pressed a button for the communicator. "Contact the others. Tell them that we have a problem."

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

"_What did he mean by true strength come from protecting others?"_ That question continued to go through Serenity's head as she couldn't figu7re out what Daisuke meant as sleep overcame her. When she woke up she still hadn't come with any answers. _"Maybe it's a good thing that I was given the entire day off to think things over."_

After getting cleaned and dressed Serenity went to the kitchen where Jun was already eating breakfast. "You really out did yourself with breakfast I see." All she got for an answer was her aunt pointing over to the box of cereal that she was having. Not bothering to make a fuss over something trivial, she got herself some as well.

The two ate in silence for a while before Jun spoke up. "Where were you last night? You didn't come home before I went to sleep."

"Nothing much really." Serenity lied. "I was just walking around town and lost track of time." To her relief it seemed like her aunt believed her. "This may sound strange Jun but where do you think that strength comes from?"

As she thought, Jun was confused by the unexpected question. "Well, I can't really say. Honestly, I think it all depends on that particular person's perspective. Why do you ask?"

"No real reason, just curious." Putting the now empty bowl in the sink Serenity headed for the front door. "I'll be out for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone so don't wait up for me."

After trading quick parting words she left the apartment, not noticing the smile that come over Jun's face. _"So you finally decided to give her the talk, did you Daisuke? It's about time."_

-/-/-/-/-

Speaking of Daisuke, both he and Hikari were still at his place but the feeling that was coming from them was an unusual one. "Are you sure?" Daisuke was course talking about whatever it was that Hikari had to tell him about her test results.

"I'm sure." By her tone of voice Hikari was just as taken back by what she said. "I even got the opinion of another doctor just to make sure and the result was the same. We hav eto face facts Daiuske and admit that the tests were telling the truth."

"But how can you be pregnant?" The confusion in Daisuke's voice was apparent. "We have gone all the way but there's no way that we could have a child. Vampires are not able to have children. If I was human it'd be a completely different story." It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it wasn't possibly if nothing else.

"But you were human, don't you remember?" Hikari could see that her boyfriend didn't understand what she was getting at. "Don't you recall about a month ago when you were separated from your demonic half? During that time you were human and we did have our first intimate moment. I believe I don't have to elaborate any further."

Daisuke didn't say anything as he allowed everything to sink in. "I'm safe to assume that you plan on keeping it?" His voice held no type of emotion, making it impossible to tell what he was truly feeling at the moment.

When asked that question an uneasy expression came over Hikari's face. "I don't know. I mean this is a big decision to make. If I were to keep it it'll deeply affect my life. What will my family think if they were to find out? I don't even want to think about what my brother would do. He may go ballistic if he finds out that you got me pregnant." Realizing how her words may have sounded she quickly tried to correct herself. "I didn't mean it like that. It isn't like I'm ashamed about having your child."

"I'm not upset about that. It's just that the idea of me being a father is a hard pill to swallow. Even though I already have a daughter in Serenity I still find it difficult to be considered a father seeing as how the relationship between us is rocky at best." Hikari knew what he was talking about as she recalled the rough moments that the two of them had and they didn't always ended pleasantly.

"Now with the possibility of another child in the way it just drives that doubt further home." With a discouraging sigh, Daisuke looked at Hikari with an unsettling stare. "Listen, I think for the time being we should take some time apart about what we should do about this."

For a moment Daisuke thought he saw a somewhat hurt look on Hikari's face. He couldn't be sure as that look was quickly replaced with one that was devoid of any emotion. "If that's what you wish." With a small bow she turned around and left. Neither one of them knew what the future between them held.

-/-/-/-/-

"What the hell did Daisuke mean by what he said?" It was mid afternoon and Serenity still hadn't figured out what her father meant by his words. "If I didn't know any better I would think that he was testing me or something."

Before she had the chance to think things any further she heard a scream. Running to where the scream originated from she came across an alley where an unidentified woman was pushed against the wall by two men who were armed with pocket knives. Without a second thought Serenity rushed in and got between he woman and two men.

"_It would be wise if you two were to leave right now."_ The warning regrettably didn't accomplish what it set out to do as neither man back away. Instead they went on the attack as they had their knives poised to strike. _"What a foolish mistake."_

"In relative ease, Serenity disarmed the men and quickly made them think otherwise as they ran away. With the danger gone she went to the rescued woman. "It's okay. You're safe now."

"Oh, thank you very much." exclaimed the thankful woman. "I don't know how I could ever repay you Serenity."

In any other circumstance what the woman said wouldn't be that unusual. However, something she said caught Serenity's attention. "How did you know my name? I never told you what it was."

Recognizing that she had been caught, the woman started to laugh. It was small at first but only got bigger by the second. "Silly me, I said too much. I guess it's was for the best as it allows us to skip over this pointless game."

Waving her hand over her face the woman's appearance began to change. Now standing before Serenity was a woman who was slightly older than her who had an attractive build with grayish blue eyes and long blonde hair that was in a low ponytail. The outfit that she had on was tight black pants, a dark red shirt that left her stomach exposed and a black leather jacket. "You know who I am?"

It took a moment for Serenity to put a name to the face but when she finally did her attitude immediately became one of great anger. "Yes I remember. You're one of the Takenaka Corporation's higher ups, Katara." The hatred could almost be felt as Serenity wasn't even trying to hide what she was feeling.

"Ah, such hostility. Is that any way to talk to your mother?" Katara was practically taunting Serenity and was in no way tried to deny it.

"Don't you dare say that!" Serenity quickly shot back. "I had a mother and you son of a bitches took her away from me." The person that she was talking about what Rowan Stevens who had been killed by the people that worked under Katara.

"You couldn't possibly mean that woman who was assigned to watch over you." Katara obviously knew who Rowan was but played it as though she didn't. "She was nothing more than a babysitter. So don't be concerning yourself over what's her name."

In one swift move Serenity grabbed Katara by the neck and slammed her against the alley wall. "Her name was Rowan and I'm giving you just enough oxygen to tell me what you're doing and to warn you, if I happen to not like what I hear, let's just say that your neck will be able to bend in a whole new angle."

Even though knowing that the threat was more than just words, Katara kept that same smug look on her face. "Ah, that temper of yours. Obviously that was something that you got from your father." That remark would result in the grip on her neck being tighten. Whether it was on purpose or simply on reflex it wasn't known, not even to Serenity herself.

Before you go ahead and snap my neck as yourself this. Why would I basically allow you to do this to me without having something up my sleeve?" When that was said Serenity reluctantly loosened the pressure that she had on Katara's neck to the point that she completely let go. "That was a wise move. Now, there is something that I want you to do for me."

Rather than replying with words Katara pulled out a small black box that had two white buttons, a red light and a little antenna on top. "An interesting little this is. With a press of a button it can cause this to happen." When Katara the button to the device it caused the light started to flash.

Serenity didn't know what to make of the device until she began to feel weird. At first it was only a nagging feeling but quickly it became a searing pain that was so bad that it caused her to fall to her knees. "W-Wh-What are you doing?" She literally had to force the words out as the pain was becoming nearly unbearable.

"I'm doing nothing really. All that's happening is that your nervous system is being attacked. You see this device sends a signal that sends a surge of electrical pulses throughout your entire body." Serenity wanted to cruse Katara out but was in so much pain that she couldn't form any words.

"Did you actually think that we dind't have anything planned in case you betrayed us?" Feeling that she got her point across, the female higher up member pressed the button again and the electrical pulses stopped. Letting out some shaky breaths Serenity slowly got back to her feet. Once regaining enough of her composure she glared at her estranged mother with absolute hatred.

Sensing what her daughter was thinking, Katara quickly put an end to those thoughts. "I know what you must be thinking. You think that you can grab this device from me but can you be so sure about that? Maybe I'll use it again only this time the pulses will be much stronger." She furthered her warning by having her thumb hover over the button. The warning proved to be effective as Serenity didn't try anything.

"A wise move indeed. We wouldn't want this item to be destroyed. Thanks to that damn Rowan we lost the plans for this device. Fortunately one was made before that happened."

"Well lucky you." spat Serenity in distain. "So are you going to explain what you want with me or do we have to play a game of twenty-one questions?"

"Very well then, listen and listen good. There is a person by the name of Iori Hida. He's an attorney who has some criminating information about me and my associates in his possession."

"And this information that he has is about what?" Serenity was becoming curious about what was so bad that the higher ups would try to force him to do their dirty work.

"It's none of your concern." Katara quickly spat out. "Usually we would handle this in our own particular way but he made sure that if we were to do so then it would be more of a hindrance than a solution." Allowing a sadistic smile to come out, she set her gaze on Serenity. "That's where you come in my daughter."

"There's no way that I'm going to kill for you." Serenity immediately retorted. "If you think that I would do such a thing than you're crazier than I thought."

Despite herself, Katara laughed lightly. "Killing someone? Don't be absurd. All you have to do is get the information that Mr. Hida has and hand them over to me." The pleasantries soon faded away as the higher up member looked at her daughter with deadly seriousness. "If you don't do as I say than let's just say that you'll be in for a shocking experience." Feeling that she had gotten her point across, Katara turned around and started to leave. "You have until tomorrow night to do as I ask and don't do anything foolish or you'll deeply regret it."

Angered beyond words, Serenity glared hotly at her estranged mother as she walked off. When she was all alone in the alley she went ahead and vented her anger by punching the brick wall with all her might. Pulling her fist back it could be seen that the knuckles were completely bloody but Serenity paid no mind to it. _"What am I going to do?"_

-/-/-/-/-

"_She's pregnant? I can't believe it."_ Those type of thoughts had continuously went through Daisuke's head ever since yesterday when Hikari told him that she was with child and that the child was his. While the though of having a child wasn't all that bad he couldn't help but to have some worry. _"How can I not have some worry? My track record in child raising is not that spectacular."_

As if setting it up, someone came through his door and when he looked up he saw that it was a person that was connected with his recent thoughts. "My, isn't this an unexpected surprise. May I ask as for the reason behind this visit?"

"Nothing really just bored." was Serenity's response. "So where's that girlfriend of yours? Isn't she usually here about this time?"

For some reason Daisuke felt that there was something up with his daughter but decided to keep them to himself for the time being. "Hikari and I are taking some time to think things over that concern our relationship. Given time things will be all right." _"At least I hope that it'll be."_

"Well, for what it's worth, I hope that things work out between you two." Looking over to Daisuke the first time since arriving, Serenity gave her father a small smile. "After all, the two of you are good for each other."

"All right, that's it. What going on?" The concern that the vampire hero was feeling was clearly noted. "For as long as we known each other you never asked about my personal relationships and things that concern me that doesn't involve actual fighting." It seemed like what he was saying was getting to Serenity as her expression became one of uncertainty. "We may not have the best father-daughter relationship but that doesn't mean that you can't come to me if you're in trouble."

That appeared to be what it took to get through his daughter's defenses as she looked at him with eyes that contained desperation. "Father." What Serenity said surprised Daisuke as she rarely recognize him as her father, let alone saying it with such a seldom voice. "Something happened yesterday."

-/-/-/-/-

"Mr. Hida, I'm heading home now." informed an attractive woman. She was at the doorway of Iori Hida, who was busy at his desk working on something.

"Good night Nancy, I'll see you tomorrow." For close to a hour Iori continued with whatever project that he was working on until he decided to call it a night. Putting everything away he left his office so that he could head home.

Since Iori didn't live that far he decided to walk home instead of driving. While walking his thoughts drifted to what was going on with the Takenaka Corporation. "What are they planning? Knowing their history there's no way that they won't try something to silence me."

If as though he was daring it, someone came sneaking in and suddenly appeared in front of Iori. "I'll give you points for sneaking up on me but who are you?"

"Who I am is none of your concern. All you need to know is that I'm here for everything that you have on the Takenaka Corporation." Unknowingly Iori brought the briefcase that he was carrying closer to his body. "I would prefer to deal with his peacefully. However, I'll use force if necessary."

With a hand out stretch Serenity motioned for Iori to hand over the briefcase. When eh didn't comply she let out a disappointed sigh. "I guess that means that we'll have to do things the hard way." After those words were said she started to attack with relentless strikes. To his credit, Iori was managing to avoid every one of her attempts. "I must say that I'm impressed. You have to be pretty skilled to be able to avoid my attacks."

"It helps that you've had lessons in defending yourself at an early age." Like with Serenity moments ago, Iori went on the offensive. Unfortunately for him though he was having far less success as Serenity as not only was he trying to fight but also trying to protect what was inside his briefcase.

In the end that would lead to his downfall as Iori was taken down and lost possession of his briefcase. Grabbing it from the floor Serenity looked over to him as he was slumped against the floor. "Ill be taking this now. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Hida." She would follow those words by delivering a spin kick that rendered the man unconscious.

Having nothing left to keep her there, Serenity headed out. _"Now it's onto the next part of this situation and it is one that I would rather not do."_ Despite her feelings she knew that there was no other choice in the matter.

-/-/-/-/-

All right I'm here like you ask." shouted Serenity in a familiar alley. "You can show yourself now."

Nothing happen at first but that changed when the sound of footsteps were heard from the shadows. Soon the source of those footsteps would be revealed as Katara stepped into the light. "Ah, I see that you managed to get what I ask." You could practically feel the cockiness oozing out of Katara as she felt that everything was going her way. "Were you also able to take care of Mr. Hida?"

"I believe that you already know the answer." replied Serenity in a tone that indicated that she would rather be anywhere else but there. "After all you've been keeping an eye on him ever since he revealed what he had about you and your corporation."

If Katara was surprise by Serenity's words she didn't show it. In fact, she seemed to be impressed. "My, how very observant you are. I shouldn't be all that surprise seeing as how I raised you."

"You never raised me." spat Serenity as it was clear that the subject was a sensitive one. "The only thing that you cared to get out of me was a weapon." Taking a few deep breaths she calmed herself before she did something foolish. "There was only one person that raised me as an actually person and she was killed because of you."

"Oh please, not this again." Katara was obviously not interesting into getting back into that particular topic. "Indeed the death of Ms. Rowan Stevens was an unfortunate one but nothing can be done to change it." Putting that matter aside she stuck a hand out while the other was holding the device that had control over Serenity. "Now hand over the briefcase or you're going to get a little reminder of what this device can do."

"Not so fast." Serenity replied with some defiance in her voice. "Let's make a trade. The briefcase for the device, sounds reasonable?" She immediately knew what the answer would be when she notice the irritated look that Katara was giving her. "Or maybe I should just throw it out into a public area where anyone who wants to can read what's inside."

"Well, if that were to happen then I'll make sure that the next electrical pulses will be the last thing that you'll ever feel." Clearly Katara was becoming quite annoyed with the whole situation and she was on the verge of doing something about it.

With a sigh of defeat Serenity handed over the aforementioned item. "Fine, you win. Here your stupid briefcase. I hope you choke on it."

Not even bothering to make any type of response, the diabolical mother grabbed the desired item. "That was a wise move on your part. Apparently you know when it is in your best interest to give up." With victory right within her grasp, Katara opened the briefcase. But just as she did a sudden flash of flames erupted from inside. Due to the unexpected maneuver, Katara became temporarily blinded.

When her vision started to return she turned toward where she last saw her wayward daughter. "How dare you?! I'll make you pay for what you did." Katara immediately went to press the button to the device but nothing happened as there was no device in her hands. 'What the hell?" Quickly she looked around for the device and it wasn't she glanced over to Serenity that she found it in one of her daughter's hand. "Give that back to me this instant."

It appeared as though Serenity was actually thinking it over. "All right, here you go." Stretching her arm out Serenity gave Katara the opportunity to retrieve the device. But just as she was about to grab it, Serenity closed her hand around it with enough force to completely crush the device beyond repair. "Oops, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen." She was obviously lying but was doing it in furthering the anger that Katara was feeling as she was close to exploding.

"What a foolish move that you just done." Clearly the female higher up member was doing all she could to control her anger but there were moments when it would come through. "You do know that you're going to pay for what you've done?"

"Maybe I will but I wouldn't be so sure." Katara didn't know what to make of Serenity's words but that would change when she turned around. Right on the floor was the briefcase, only now it was being consumed by the flames of the flash grenade that had been inside. "I think that makes up for destroying your little toy. I mean, you were going to destroy what was inside only I beat you to the punch. Let's just call this encounter of ours a draw."

What Serenity expected to happen was Katara to start yelling and cursing except she got the complete opposite. Instead she actually seemed impressed. The surprises would keep on coming when Katara turned around to leave only to stop to give some parting words. "That was quite the clever plan that you came up with. Being sneaky, conniving and no nonsense." She would then allow a sly smile to come across her face. "You may hate to admit it but we're more a like than you think."

After saying what she wanted to say, Katara left without looking back. Even when she was now alone in the alley Serenity just stood there as she tried to shake off the memory of the departing words from her mother. Try as she might, Serenity simply couldn't forget those words and feel that there may be some truth behind them.

-/-/-/-/-

Next Day…

It was the early hours of the day and everyone was hurrying to their destinations. One of those people would be Iori Hida who was coming into his office. As he was going in you could clearly see a dark bruise on his right cheek. Closing the door he turned around and got a bit of a shock when he saw that he wasn't the only one in the room. "This is a surprise. I wasn't expecting you until later."

The guest just shrugged their shoulders. "What can I say? I rather get what I came for now than later. Speaking of which, do you have what we discussed?"

Instead of answering with words, Iori went over to his desk and opened one of the drawers. He pulled out a large envelope that contained plenty of documents and computer files. Tossing the envelope onto the desk it skidded over to his guest. "I think that you'll see that everything you ask for is inside." Grabbing the envelope the guest opened it and appeared to approve of what was inside. "Are you sure this'll work?"

"I'm certain. So far everything has gone according to plan. You carry a briefcase that contains false documents and get into a fight with my daughter." That remark helped to reveal that the guest was the vampire with a soul, Daisuke Motomiya. "Speaking of which, I hope that she wasn't that rough with you."

Unconsciously, Iori rubbed his bruised cheek. "Don't worry about it. It was something that had to happen to fool the the people that were watching us."

"Which turned out to be a wise move." continued Daisuke from where Iori left off. "By getting the briefcase like she did no one was the wiser of her placing a flash grenade and giving her the opportunity to destroy the device that was being used to hurt her. In the end Serenity saved herself from a dangerous situation, we were able to keep the plans and the Takenaka Corporation was none the wiser."

"And to think it all started because of one person." That seemed to strike a cord as neither one said anything for a while. "Rowan was quite a person wasn't she?"

"She sure was." agreed Daisuke. "Even though I never really got to know her I still have great respect for her. She protected my daughter from that damn corporation and even gave her life up so that Serenity could stay safe. Also, before she died, Rowan was able to send you, her nephew, all the information that she could get about what the higher ups are ultimately planning which hopefully will greatly help us. For that I'll always be grateful."

"Its words like that which makes me glad that I went along with your plan. Along with the information Rowan also advised me that if ever I met the people that go by the names Daisuke or Serenity I should cooperate with them. However, I think it'll be wise if I step aside for now on." Daisuke didn't seem all that surprise by what Iori said but allow him to explain.

"Everything has become more complicated than I could ever imagine and I know that I'll be more of a hindrance than helpful. That is why my family and I are going to take a leave from Kyoto and see the world." Iori couldn't help but smile at the thought of the situation. "Besides, I believe that whatever it is to come it'll be big." Iori then stuck his hand out to show his comrade his appreciation. "I wish you the best of luck."

Daisuke would accept the man's gesture by shaking Iori's hand. "Thank you for all you have done to help. None of this could've happen if it wasn't for you and I'll always be grateful." With the envelope in hand Daisuke headed for the door but stopped to say one more thing before leaving. "Once again, thank you for all your help. Good luck in whatever comes your way. Goodbye, my friend." Having said that Daisuke left, closing the door behind him.

-/-/-/-/-

Shortly after leaving Iori's office Daisuke went home. Putting the envelope in a hiding place so that it'd be safe until Ken could check it out after returning from his vacation. _"Hopefully he'll be able to figure out what's contained in them before it's too late."_

"So how did things go?" Peering over to where the question had come from, Daisuke was somewhat surprise to see that it came from Hikari. "I called your sister and she told me what you and Serenity were doing and I wanted to know how it went." Hikari momentarily paused as she tried to figure out what to say next. "And it appears as though it went well. I'm glad."

"Is that all you came for?" The question from the vampire hero lacked any type of emotion behind it as it made it sound like he wasn't all that interested in getting an answer.

Once again Hikari took a while to respond as she try to decide what to say. "Maybe I also wanted to know if you were okay."

The tension was so thick that it could practically be felt with the two unsure of what to go from there. It would be Hikari who would attempt to put that tension to an end. "Well…I guess I'll be going now. …I'll see you later."

For a moment Daisuke just watch as the young woman walked away but couldn't stand it. "Hikari, wait up." Hurrying over he led her back in. "Please take a seat. There are things that we need to discuss." Thankfully Hikari complied with his request. "It's no secret that I was caught off guard when you said that you were pregnant and I was the father. That was something that I didn't expect to ever hear. I'm not sure if I'm ready for such a thing."

"Do you think that I am?" Obviously Hikari was just as worried about what was going on. "I've decided to keep the baby and if I have to do it by myself then I will." Unknowingly she placed a hand on her stomach. "I don't need your pity. I can do perfectly well on my own."

Not wanting the tears that were threaten to spill out; Hikari lowered her head in an attempt to hide it. She was so focus on controlling her emotions that she didn't notice a hand reaching over and grabbing hers. Lifting her head up she saw that Daisuke was knelt down beside her and had a sincere look on his face. "Deciding to have the baby is a big decision which I'm not going to try changing. To be honest, I can't think of a better woman to be a mother than you and I hope that I'll be able to be a part of it to see it."

Whatever feelings that Hikari had were put on hold as that last remark knocked her for a loop. "What I'm trying to say is that I wish to be involved." As with Hikari did earlier, Daisuke lightly put a hand on her stomach. "I want to be there for you and for our unborn child. That is of course if you want me to."

For what felt like an eternity, Daisuke nervously waited for the woman in front of him to answer as a lot depended on what her reply would be. Slowly Hikari lend over and tenderly pressed her lips against his. While the kiss was a short one it held such emotion behind it. "Does that answer your question?" inquired Hikari with a loving voice.

It was then that Daisuke came out of his daze and returned to the same loving look that she was giving him. "I'm not so sure. I think I need more 'answering'." Letting out a laugh at the silly remark, Hikari went ahead and did as requested. Soon the two of them were making up the time when they foolishly separated and a preview of what they hope was to come.

* * *

That was an interesting chapter wasn't it? I must admit that I had some difficulty with this chapter and the reason being is that I didn't know what to do with the Serenity character. For a while I thought that I might have her get killed by Shishio but that changed when I had Shishio killed in the previous chapter. 

Another idea was to have her leave with Sora and her group to become somewhat like a slayer but I decided not to because it would feel like I was just taking her out of the series since I had no real idea to bring her back if I went ahead with that idea. Besides, I think this turned out for the better since it gave me an opportunity to have the confrontation between Serenity and technically her mother Katara.

As for the discovery of what's been happening with Hikari in the last few chapters that must of caught some of you by surprise. The idea just came to me before doing the whole slayer chapters and I couldn't help but actually do it. Hopefully you'll be okay with the idea and don't worry, I'm not going to have that take any major part of what remained of this series.

That's pretty much all I really have to say in this author notes except that there's one more thing that I would like to mention. There's a chance that when I update this story again I'll be putting up two chapters instead of two. I'm sure that I'll be actually doing such a thing but it is a strong possibility.


	4. Personal Affairs

Here you go readers, here's the first chapter to a two chapter update. You can almost consider this somewhat of a two parter but at the same time it isn't. I hope that made sense. Well, I'm not going to waste anymore of your time and allow you to read the chapter. Disclaimer, I don't own digimon.  
_

* * *

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_Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman.  
Margaret Fuller (1810 - 1850), Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845_

Chapter 4:  
Personal Affairs

"By the power invested in me I declare you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Following the minister's words the newly married couple sealed their marriage with a very affectionate kiss to the approval of those in attendance. "Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to, for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Aida."

Once again the people in attendance voiced their approval as they all were happy for the couple. With the ceremony over the married couple and those who had watch left to where the reception was to be held. Once everyone arrived at the destination the celebration could begin. "Congratulations James." exclaimed Daisuke who was dressed in a black tuxedo. "It couldn't happen to a better guy."

"Thanks Daisuke. That means a lot." Similar to his friend, James was wearing a tuxedo. Currently at the reception the two males were joined by Ken as they talked about recent events. "To think that out of the three of us I would be the first to get married. Surprising isn't it?"

"Not really." said Ken. 'The way you and Mimi have been with one another it's a surprise that you two didn't get married sooner than you did."

"I believe what your friend is trying to say is that we're happy for the two of you and wish you many years of happy marriage."

"Yeah, that's was what I was trying to say." Ken quickly confirmed but lacked any certainty behind it. Quickly looking for anything to get the attention turned away from him, Ken came up with a solution. "You guys may like to hear that I'm close to figuring out what is contained in those documents and computer files that you managed to get Daisuke. Soon we'll know exactly what the Takenaka Corporation are-" Before he could finish what he was going to say he was stopped by Daisuke.

"Let's not talk about that today. Today's a special day and we should treat it as one." Agreeing to their friend's suggestion all of them started to have better time, not once mentioning anything that would have to be dealt with in the upcoming future."

-/-/-/-/-

As the men were having their little group discussion the women were having a similar one of their own. "I'm so happy for you." stated Miyako as she embraced her now married cousin. "This couldn't have happen to a more deserving of this moment than you, Mimi Tachikawa. Correction, Mimi Aida."

Those words caused the new bride to blush heavily. "Please, you're embarrassing me and at my wedding no less. Have you no shame?" Mimi furthered the act by wiping away a nonexistent tear.

Laughing at her cousin's act, Miyako resumed with the congratulating. "Everyone raise your glasses in the air for a toast to the bride and her loving husband. May they have a long and loving marriage." With a clink of their glasses in support of the toast the women drank their champagne. All of them expect for Hikari who was drinking water due to her condition. While she may not be showing yet there was still fussing about the baby that was growing inside of her.

"This has been a crazy three months." muttered Hikari. "You return from your little vacation and announcing that you and James were engaged. Now here we are, at the reception for your guys' wedding. Quite surprising isn't it?"

"What you said is true." commented Mimi as she had a dreamy look in her eyes. "A lot of surprising things has happened these past few months and you're no exception Hikari." With the tied of conversation being turned around Hikari tried to get a different subject going but it didn't work. "After all, you and Daisuke are going to have a baby soon. That was definitely a shocker but a good one."

In what had become a common gesture to her, Hikari placed a hand on her stomach. Every time she did a feeling of indescribable joy came over her. "Indeed it was a chock but I couldn't be any happier. I don't know how to explain it but it amazes me when I think of the life that is growing inside of me. Also, the thought of becoming a mother makes me greatly happy."

As the conversation continued Hikari took notice of one of the people in their small discussion group. The person that she was thinking about was Serenity Motomiya. Maybe Hikari should be happy that the young woman even came seeing as how Serenity was very reluctant to be involved in a gathering with people that she wasn't all that close with. If it wasn't for the fact that she was there as a favor towards Daisuke she may have decided to stay out of the whole thing. "What's wrong Serenity? Getting a little tipsy from the champagne?"

Now with the attention of the group on her, Serenity squirmed in her seat. "Alcohol doesn't really affect me." spoke Serenity who was somewhat hesitant in speaking in front of everyone. "It's just that everything seems to be changing so fast. Mimi's married and you and my father are going to have a baby, there by making me an older sister." Serenity even shook her head as if to shake away the confused feelings that she was having. "Does what I said sound strange?"

"No, it doesn't sound strange at all." spoke Hikari in a soothing voice. "Change can be a scary thing for anybody. However, it is needed as it helps it improve who we are and grow. Whether the changes are good or bad, they help to make us who we well become."

Those words seem to make Serenity feel better as she gave Hikari a thanking smile. Before the discussion could go any further someone snuck up and wrapped their arms around Mimi's waist. "What's with the serious attitude here?" asked James as he snuggled close to his wife. "This is a time for celebration so let's go ahead and celebrate." Following that advice everyone started to have real fun. All of them just let it go as in the back of their heads they knew that days such as these were limited.

-/-/-/-/-

When the early morning light started to filter into the room it stirred one of the people that was sleeping within awake. Slowly opening his eyes, Daisuke started to regain his senses. The first thing that he notice was that there was someone else in bed with him. "Hey, wake up."

After further provoking, his bedmate began to wake up. "Not again Daisuke. I'm still exhausted from the last time." muttered the person as they tried to go back to sleep.

Laughing quickly, Daisuke tried again to wake up his companion. "No, it isn't that. Of course, I'm willing to go again if you're really up for it." That resulted in another small laugh to come out. "Seriously though, it's time for us to get up." Reluctantly the person gave up on sleep and started to get out of bed. "Last night must've really worn you out, Hikari. In more ways than one I may add."

Indeed the other person that Daisuke was sharing his bed with was Hikari, who was blushing heavily at the hidden meaning behind her boyfriend's words. "In fact, I am. Not that I'm really complaining." This time it was Daisuke's turn to become embarrass by what was said. "The wedding was a beautiful thing, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was. Both Mimi and James were deserving of having such a thing. The reception was nice as well." Suddenly, Daisuke started to laugh at something and to the confusion of Hikari.

"Care to share what's so funny? Or do you intend to leave me in the dark?"

"Really, it's nothing." answered Daisuke after he calmed down. "I'm just thinking about how Ken must've handled Miyako last night."

Understanding what was funny, Hikari joined in the laughter. Apparently during the reception Miyako had one drink too many, resulting in her becoming a bit friendlier than usual. Watching as she practically dragged Ken back to their place was something that greatly amused everyone in attendance. "That was funny. But I have a feeling that Ken wasn't all that against on how Miyako was treating him."

"Perhaps you're right. Do you think Mimi and James are enjoying their honeymoon?" Instead of going on a big trip for their honeymoon, the newlywed decided to have it at the apartment that Mimi shared with HIkari. "After their honeymoon the two of them are planning to live in James' apartment, correct?"

"That appears to be the plan. Or maybe I'll just let them keep mine. I mean, it's more suitable for them then James'. The only problem with that is what I would do if I decided to move out."

"If that's a problem then you could always move in with me." Daisuke's suggestion got an immediate reaction from Hikari as she stopped getting dressed and looked at him in surprise. "Don't take it the wrong way. What I meant is that it'd be difficult to find a new place and you already know the possible roommate. Besides, it'll help make things easier when they day comes." The day that he was referring to was when Hikari was to give birth to their child.

Recovering from the shock, Hikari finished getting dressed but kept her back towards Daisuke. "Don't you think that'd be rushing things between us?" She suddenly started to chuckle. "That's funny for me to say seeing as how we're going to have a child together." Finally turning around Hikari saw that Daisuke had a somewhat hopeful look on his face. "…Could you give me time to think it over?" Daisuke simply nodded his head in accepting Hikari's request.

Soon he was dressed as well and they were in his kitchen to have some breakfast. "Listen, Hikari. I wasn't in anyway trying to force you to make a decision that you may regret later." Like he did earlier, Hikari just nodded her head in understanding but he could tell that there was still some hesitation with her. "I just thought by living together we could be like a family."

Before the discussion could go any further, a knock at the door was heard and being the closest, Daisuke went to answer it. Making sure that he wouldn't be hit by the direct sunlight he opened the door. "Hello. It's pretty early, so I hope you have a good excuse at-"

Daisuke stopped in mid rant as he was shocked by who was at his doorstep. The person was a woman about his age. She was an attractive woman with jet black hair that went down to her shoulder blades and bright blue eyes. What she had on was a white long sleeve t-shirt and black jeans that did nothing to hide her figure. "Well, are you going to invite me in or do I have to stand here all day?"

Snapping out of his shock, Daisuke motioned for the woman to come in. "I can't believe you're here. Why are you here?"

If the woman took offense to that question she didn't show it as she smiled warmly at him. "I came here to discuss something with you."

As with the last conversation this one was interrupted before it could continue. This time it was from Hikari as she came over to find out who the woman was. "Oh, where are my manners? Hikari let me introduce you to Alexis Ikari. She's someone I knew years ago."

"Nice to meet you." commented Alexis as she put her hand out for Hikari to shake who accepted the gesture without hesitation.

"The same goes for me. Any friend of Daisuke is a friend of mine. By the way, how do the two of you know each other?" It appeared like Daisuke didn't want the question to be answered but his plea would be ignored.

"It's simply really. I'm Daisuke's fiancée."

* * *

As you probably already figured out, this chapter was a short one. That's why I'm putting two chapters up instead of one as usual. Originally this and the following chapter were suppose to be one chapter but after wrapping up the chapter I saw that it was a little long for my liking. 

I wouldn't really had that much of a problem if it was one chapter with the exception that if I did then the whole James and Mimi wedding would've felt out of place. Trust me, that will make more sense after you read the next chapter. At least I hope that it does.

So, that's all for this author notes. Now go ahead and read the following chapter.


	5. Prior Relations

As I promise, here's the second chapter in a two chapter update. The reason why I'm doing such a thing has already been explained in the previous chapter author notes. Trust me, I believe that you readers will like what happens in this chapter as it gives more of a backstory of Daisuke's past before the series began. Now, for the disclaimer, I don't own digimon.  
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_Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.  
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)_

Chapter 5:  
Prior Relations

Next Day….

"What do you mean your fiancée?" That was the topic of discussion between Daisuke and friends as they talked about what happen with Alexis Ikari.

"She actually my _former_ fiancée." corrected Daisuke who was dejected about the whole situation. "It was before I became a vampire. To be more precise, it was when I was still human."

"If that's the case then why did she show up?" pondered Mimi. "Does she know what you are?"

For a while Daisuke did nothing but look at the ground with a blank stare before he spoke. "Yeah, she knows." _"How could I ever forget that day?"_

Flashback, Fifteen Years Ago…

"_Come on, Daisuke. You can do this."_ Once getting himself ready, the former human now vampire, Daisuke Motomiya was about to have a confrontation that he both wanted but didn't at the same time.

For the last hour he had waited in a parking structure until his desired target showed up. Going over to the person he readied to have a very interesting conversation. "Alexis? Alexis Ikari?"

Hearing her name, the woman who was now identified as Alexis turned away from her car and stared at Daisuke. Once realizing who called out to her, Alexis let out a gasp of surprise. "Oh, my God. Daisuke, is that really you?" When Daisuke nodded his head she started to head towards him until he motioned for her to stop. "What's going on Daisuke? I was told that you were killed when you were trying to prevent a burglary from happening."

"So, that's how they explained how I died." thought Daisuke to himself. "Let's just say that my death was greatly exaggerated." A somewhat uncomfortable silence soon came over the two as neither one knew where to go from there. "You look good Alexis. You're just as beautiful as the last time that I saw you." That comment resulted in Alexis blush.

"What going on Daisuke?" Alexis asked with some hesitation in her voice. "Why would they say that you died when you're standing right in front of me? It doesn't make any sense."

This was the thing that Daisuke dreaded. No matter how many times he played the situation over in his head hundreds of times but it didn't make this moment any easier. "It's complicated to explain."

"How can it be complicated to tell the woman that you were planning on marrying was pronounced dead when you're clearly alive?" The anger that Alexis was feeling was bubbling to the surface and was about to explode. "Tell me what's going on this instant."

"I told you, what's going on is difficult to explain. Besides, it'll make things tougher when I leave." Alexis looked at him in confusion from that last part. "I'm going to leave to do something important. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I just thought that you should know that I'm aliv- that I'm okay and that you should move on with your life." Having said all that he wanted, Daisuke turned to leave. "Goodbye, Alexis."

Seeing that her fiancée was leaving, Alexis immediately rushed over to him. "Wait Daisuke, don't go." She managed to grabbed him by the arm which would cause everything to change. Unfortunately for Daisuke, when Alexis had a hold of his arm he became in contact with the small cross that was on the bracelet that she wore on her right wrist.

The result was instant as the cross started to burn Daisuke's arm. He was able to get his arm free but the burning feeling still remained. With the pain that he was experiencing, Daisuke's face accidentally changed to its vampire form. When Alexis caught sigh of the new face she stepped back in shock. "W-What has happen to you?"

Realizing his blunder, Daisuke quickly changed his face back to normal but tried to keep from looking at the face of the woman in front of him. "This was the complicated thing that I was telling you about." With no other way to get around it the ensouled vampire went ahead and told Alexis everything.

"And that's pretty much the whole story." Slowly Daisuke reached a hand out to Alexis but she took a step away from him. Obviously she was frightful of what he had become. "Look, I know that I've change but I'm still the same person that you know." Again he tried to reach out to her but like last time Alexis backed away, the fear becoming even clearer.

"Stay away from me!" yelled a scared Alexis as she maintained her distance. "You're not even human anymore. I don't ever want to see you again, you monster!"

Those words hurt Daisuke as any physical blow. With his head lowered he turned so that his back was towards Alexis. "If that's what you want than so be it." The vampire with a soul started to walk away but stopped to say some parting words. "For what it's worth, I hope that you have a happy life. Goodbye, Alexis." Resuming his departure, Daisuke disappeared into the shadows. But as he left he could hear the sound of tearful sobs of what was now his former fiancée; Alexis.

End of Flashback…

"The rest, as they would say is history." Not a single thing was said as everyone allowed the story that they heard to sink in. "What's funny about that whole situation is that if Alexis was able to handle me becoming a vampire then I would've told my parents sooner than I did. As you can tell those plans went out the window." A trace of a sad smile could be seen on Daisuke's face. "After that incident I focused on my training. But there were times when I wondered how things were handled differently. However, that's in the past and I need to look towards the present and future."

"Speaking of the present, what's up with your ex suddenly showing up?" questioned Ken and nearly everyone wanted to know the answer.

"She said that she wanted to talk." Daisuke simply answered. "Apparently Alexis wants the chance to patch things up between us. I told her that I would call her when I decided if I want to have that talk. However, I'm not sure if I want to talk with her or not."

"You should do it." The suggestion came from Hikari, who the most part didn't say anything. "I mean, she came all this way in the hope of fixing things between you two. You could at least give her the decency of hearing her out. After all, she was your…fiancée."

When Hikari explained herself, Daisuke took notice that she was somewhat reluctant in saying the fiancée part. He also apparently wasn't the only one to take notice but everyone seemed to silently agreed to keep quiet about it.

"All right then. I guess I'll be having that talk after all. I'll go ahead and call Alexis." Daisuke got up to make the call but if he were to take a moment to look back he would've sent he depress look that came over Hikari's face.

-/-/-/-/-

"I can't tell you how glad I am that you decided to come." expressed a very happy Alexis Ikari. While she may have been glad for this to be happening, the same couldn't be said about her present company as they appeared to want to be anywhere else.

"Yeah, you already told me that when I called you yesterday." It was the evening hours and currently Alexis and her guest were in a small café. "Could we go ahead and get to why we came here?" inquired Daisuke.

Whether Alexis noticed Daisuke's demeanor she didn't show it as she maintained that same happy attitude on her face. "Oh, but of course. Getting straight to the point was always your style Daisuke. Even when we were together you hated when I tried to sidetrack an issue."

The reminder of their past relationship didn't settle all that well with Daisuke as he turned his gaze away from the woman in front of him. "I didn't come here to reminisce about the past. You said that you wanted to talk and I believe that it wasn't to have a trip down memory lane."

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry." Alexis' comment stopped any type of retort from Daisuke. "We didn't exactly part on good terms during our last encounter."

"You can't really be blamed on how you reacted." Daisuke replied in a neutral voice. "To be suddenly old that there was another side to the world and that the man that you were suppose to get married to was now a part of that world, it's a lot for anyone to accept."

"But that still doesn't excuse me on how I treated you. We knew each other for six years before being engaged and instead of being supportive I was hostel and said things that I still regret to this day."

It seemed like all of the emotions that Alexis kept bottled up were finally coming to the surface as a few tears were on the verge of escaping. She was so consumed with her emotion dilemma that she didn't realize Daisuke coming over until he laid a somewhat reluctant hand on her hand.

"That's all in the past. So let us leave it in the past and focus on the future. Does that sound good?" Wiping away the tears, Alexis smiled lightly and gave a small nod of the head in approval.

-/-/-/-/-

"She's still at it, isn't she?"

"Yes she is." came the answer with the person not even looking to see if they were right as everyone already knew the answer. What they were talking about was of Hikari who was continuously seeing if Daisuke had returned. "Is she going to do that until he comes back? It's starting to get depressing."

"Cut her some slack James." scolded his wife. "Hikari's just nervous about what might be going on with Daisuke and his former fiancée; Alexis. I mean, what would you do if I left to have dinner with a former boyfriend?"

"Is that before or after I beat the guy to a bloody pulp?" The stern look on Mimi's face stopped anymore attempts of levity from being spoken. "Okay, I get what you're trying to say but come on; this is Daisuke we're talking about. Do you actually think that he would do anything to hurt Hikari?"

"It doesn't matter what we think." informed Ken before Mimi could answer. He wasn't really a part of the conversation as he was working on the stuff that they got from Iori. However, just because he wasn't taking an active role in the conversation, it didn't mean that he couldn't voice his opinion on the subject. "What does matter is what Hikari believes and we can only hope that she believes what's in her heart and not what she's thinking in her head."

-/-/-/-/-

"_Where is he?"_ thought Hikari, who was still sitting by the front window. _"What's taking you so long to come home Daisuke?"_ Her train of thought would be broken when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"How are you holding up?" Miyako asked her friend. "You look a little out of it."

"I'm fine." Hikari quickly answered to put Miyako at ease. "I'm just a bit sidetracked, that's all. This whole situation is strange."

"Well, that's to be expected when you're pregnant."

The response was somewhat of a surprise to Hikari as she didn't expect to hear that. "Actually that wasn't what I was talking about."

"I know that it wasn't." Miyako simply replied. "Look, you don't need to worry about him. Daisuke really isn't the type to run off with another woman. I mean, you two are having a baby and there's no way he'll leave you to raise it all on your own."

Those words appeared to put Hikari a little at ease. "Thank you Miyako. I appreciate what you said, I really do. You're right. Daisuke wouldn't leave without an excuse, especially when it comes to me. I just wish I knew where he is right now." The conversation was put on hold when the phone started to ring. "That's probably Daisuke calling." Picking up the phone she talked to whoever was on the end. Whatever had been said it appeared to have not sit well with Hikari as a distressed look came upon her face as she hung up the phone.

"Hikari, what's wrong?" Miyako's question caught the attention of everyone else. No matter what the problem was all of them knew that it wouldn't be good.

"It's Daisuke." was all that Hikari said.

-/-/-/-/-

"_Uh, what hit me?"_ For a while everything was nothing more than a swirl of images that couldn't be identified. Soon though everything started to return to focus and when Daisuke got a good look at his surroundings he only became more confuse.

Daisuke appeared to be in some sort of lab that had what seem to be the most state of the line equipment that was available. There were many people in white coats, which eh believed were scientists, running around doing who knows what. By their appearance Daisuke could certainly take care of them and escape. The only problem with that idea was that both his arms and legs were chained to the wall that he was against.

"_What's going on? How did I get here?"_ Soon Daisuke recalled the events that led to this moment. He had volunteered to walk Alexis back to where she was staying when it happen. The two of them were going down a street that was currently devoid of any people and apparently that was the moment that they were waiting for.

Out of nowhere a squad of men that were completely dressed in black, they even had on black ski masks to conceal their faces, appeared and surrounded them. The first thing that Daisuke did was push Alexis behind him so he could shield her. However, before any actual fighting could take place he was struck in the back of the head. Due to the attack being unexpected, Daisuke couldn't prepare himself for the impact. As he laid there on the ground and close to blacking out, he thought he could hear female laughter.

"Then we come to here." he said to himself as he saw that no one was really paying attention to him. "Okay, let's look at the facts. Alexis and I were completely surrounded and I'm certain that out of all those people dressed in black, not one of them were female. Then that must mean that the female laughter was from-"

"It was from me." The voice had come from Alexis, who walked into the lab freely as no one attempted to stop her. Walking over she stood in front of the bound Daisuke. "Honestly, when I thought about this I thought that it would be harder to capture you than it did."

As Alexis taunted, one of the scientists came over, with a large syringe in hand. Sticking the needle into Daisuke's arm the scientist started extracting what was obviously his blood. Once done the scientist walked off with a very irate vampire watching him go. "Tell me, how does it feel to be betrayed by a person that you were once engaged to?"

Instead of getting a look of hurt that she expected, Alexis got one of anger and even some smugness. "I wouldn't know, seeing as how you're not Alexis Ikari."

For a while, Alexis had a shocked expression on her face but was quickly replaced with one of confusion. "What are you talking about? I am Alexis. I'm standing right in front of you."

"Then why am I not getting the same scent that I would get from her?" When Daisuke saw the confusion he decided to elaborate. "The scent that I've been getting from you is different than when I last saw the real Alexis all those years ago."

"But that was years ago." retorted Alexis, hoping to rebuttal Daisuke's claim. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe my scent might've change?"

"There's a possibility of that happening but there was something else that helped prove that you're not the Alexis Ikari that I once knew." Daisuke kept quite a bit so to build some suspense. "It was during our little dinner when you said that we knew each other for six years before we got engaged."

"Yes I did. What of it?" Alexis asked as she had no clue what her bound captive was getting at.

That question made the smile on Daisuke's face even bigger. "Alexis and I knew each other for _four_ years."

With the realization of her mistake, Alexis simply shrugged. "What can I say? Apparently our background investigation wasn't as precise as we thought it to be. Then I guess there's no need to keep up the act any longer." Right before Daisuke's eyes, 'Alexis' began to change. No longer was the hair long and get black as it became shorter and dirty blonde. The major change was when all of the feminine features disappeared and were replaced with ones that were more masculine. Now standing in front of Daisuke was a man that appeared to be in his mid thirties. "Ah, it feels so good to be out of that pathetic form."

Nothing was said as both men let what happen to sink in. "Why do I feel that I know you?" muttered Daisuke. For some reason he felt that he knew who the man was even though he couldn't recall ever seeing him until now. Suddenly, it came to him. "You're one of the higher ups from the Takenaka Corporation."

Pleased with the identification the now revealed higher up actually bowed to the bound vampire. "The name's Byron Satori. I must say that I'm somewhat honored to truly meet you Daisuke Motomiya." What Byron was talking about was when Daisuke had recently come to Kyoto and had a brief encounter with the higher ups as they held his late friend Takeru hostage. When it was all said and done Daisuke was about to save his friend and leave a little present for the higher ups in the form of an explosive device. While the explosion didn't kill his three enemies it did leave an impression.

"I already know who you are." Daisuke didn't even try to hide the utter hatred that he had for the man in front of him. "You already introduced yourself to me. Well, to be more precise, my darker side."

"Ah, yes. You're demonic vampire side, Dai. What a troublesome person he turned out to be. This is a shame since he would've been a powerful ally. Unfortunately he proved to be too much of a loose cannon. You would know that better than anyone. Wouldn't you say so Daisuke?"

"Yes I would. More than you'll ever know." The way that Daisuke spoke it made it clear that what he said was the honest truth. "Now, mine telling me why I'm here and what you're going to do with the blood that you took from me?"

"Straight to the point I see. Very well, I'll tell you but answer this. Do you believe that there are some people who are destined to accomplish something?" Daisuke didn't say anything as he couldn't figure out what Byron was getting at. "Come on, you must've wondered why me and my associates have so focused on you?"

"I always thought it was because of my charming personality." Obviously Daisuke had made a joke. While he may have not known what the higher up was talking about he wasn't going to tell him that.

"Allow me to enlighten you. Before you even became a creature of the night my associates and I came across a very interesting prophecy. I won't bore you with the details but there was one thing that was stated that you may find interesting. For us to get what's coming to us we need the blood of a being who's a human but living the life of the dead.

"So that's why you wanted me." muttered Daisuke who realized what was going on. "While vampires were once human they become demons when they are turned. However, a vampire who has their human soul is another story."

"My, you're smarter than we gave you create for. Your assumptions would be correct though. The blood of a vampire who still has their soul is a crucial part of our plan." Instantly Byron's expression changed from smug to one of coldness. "Now that we have what we needed we have no further use for you."

With a snap of his fingers two men who appeared to be security stood on either side of Byron. Both of them were holding nightsticks but what caught the attention of the ensouled vampire was that the end of each nightstick was carved to the point that it basically became a stake. "This is where we part ways Daisuke Motomiya. Here's where you finally meet your end."

Taking great pleasure of what was going on before him; Byron hoped that before he met his end he would see the look of defeat on Daisuke's face. However, instead he saw a look of confidence. Apparently Daisuke was confident enough that he actually started to laugh. "You're laughing? What do you find so amusing?"

Laughing for a bit longer, Daisuke finally calmed himself down. "For someone thinking that they are high and mighty you're proving to be quite the idiot." In response to the insult Byron punched him in the face. Spitting out the bit of blood that was in his mouth, Daisuke maintained that same confident face. "Did you actually think that with my doubts about you that I wouldn't have made some type of precautions?"

As if to support his claim, a commotion could be heard outside the science room. Suddenly bursting through the door was some very familiar individuals. "I warned you." Daisuke taunted in the annoyance of Byron.

"What are you waiting for? Stop them!" instructed the angry higher up to the people that were under his command. Even though the numbers were on Byron's side it didn't give them the advantage. The reasoning being that most of the people were just scientist, resulting in them either being dealt with little effort or running for their lives. As for the actual security that was there, they had proved to be a bit more trouble but they were dealt with as well. Soon the only ones that were standing were Byron, Daisuke and those who interrupted everything.

"If you be so kind as to step away from the vampire it would be greatly appreciated." informed one of the intruders. "Of course, if you refuse we could always do things the hard way." To help prove the seriousness all of them aimed their weapons toward the higher up.

With the odds not in his favor, Byron reluctantly did as instructed. "You know that you won't get away with this." he warned. "You won't get out of the building."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." was the immediate response. "We happen to have already dealt with all the obstacles that would try to prevent our escape." In no time all of the restraints that held Daisuke were removed, allowing the ensouled vampire to fall to his knees. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Hikari." Daisuke answered as he got back to his feet. "Give me a day and I'll be as good as new. Now why don't we go ahead and take care of a problem by the name of Byron Satori." Turning to where the man in question was last seen they were shocked to see that Byron was nowhere in sight. "Damn it, he got away and he took the vile with him."

"Yeah, I'm sure that what happened here is a fascinating story but can we get out of this place first?" asked Miyako. She appeared to be not the only one who shared that type of thinking as everyone didn't wish to stay in that room anymore than necessary.

Agreeing with the suggestion all of them headed out. Had they came back to the room they would've saw that there was something that they failed to notice. Lying on the floor of the science room was a scientist that wasn't there before. Slowly that person got to their feet with a smug look on their face.

"That was a close one." Right there, the scientist's body began to change and it continued to do so until it was revealed that the person was none other than Byron Satori. "Fortunately none of them notice my quick transformation or my little item. The smug look on his face became a full blown smile as he looked at the vile that contained Daisuke's blood. "At last, the time has come."

-/-/-/-/-

Days Later…

The sound of knocking could be heard echoing throughout the apartment. "All right, I'm coming. Wait a minute." exclaimed a woman as she headed for the door. The knocking simply continued as if to tell who was on the other side to open it quicker. When the woman finally got to the door she nearly flung it open. "I don't care who you are but you better have a damn good reason to-" Her little rant was halted when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

"I guess you still have that fiery temper of yours Alexis." remarked the new arriver with a casual tone. "May I come in?"

Indeed the person in the apartment was the real Alexis Ikari. While she was prepared to yell at the person who had bothered her on the one day that she could relax, that all went out the window when she recognized the man at her doorstep. "Uh, all right, come inside." she managed to fumble out. Moving aside Alexis allowed Daisuke to enter her apartment.

There was nothing said between the two as neither knew what to say to start up the conversation. "Would you like something to drink?" Alexis managed to ask. She immediately wanted to smack herself for the stupidity of the question. "What am I thinking? Of course you don't since you would probably prefer to have…" She left the rest of the sentence up in the air as she wasn't really comfortable in saying the rest.

"I'll have some coffee if you have any." Daisuke informed. That seemed to help put an end to the tension that they had as Alexis gave him a genuine smile and a small nod. Moments later the two of them were sitting at the dinning room table with their drinks in hand. "So, how long has it been since we last saw each other? About fifteen years I do believe. It seems like the years have been kind to you Alexis." You could tell that Daisuke was being genuine with her words. "You're just as beautiful as you were back then."

Those words would get a response from Alexis as she blushed slightly. "Well, the same could be said about you Daisuke. But that's to be expected, seeing as how you're…uh, well a…"

"A vampire?" Daisuke answered when he saw the difficulty that Alexis had with saying the word. "It does have its advantages but there are disadvantages that come along with it. The liquid diet and the lunar tan are good examples."

"Why are you here Daisuke?" Alexis questioned suddenly. "You're visit was a definite surprise but something tells me that there was a specific reason why you came here."

Releasing a tense filled sigh Daisuke look over to the woman in front of him with a calm expression. "Recently I've done some thinking about things that has happen in the past and I decided that I should try to resolve some of those things that didn't end all that well." he calmly informed. _"At least while I still have the chance to do so."_ That thought was kept to himself as Daisuke didn't want to say anything that would make Alexis anymore suspicious than she already was. "Let's face facts. The last time we met we didn't really part on good terms."

The recalling of that particular incident caused Alexis to bow her head in shame. "I can't tell you how sorry I am about how I acted on that day." Daisuke looked as though he was going to say that it was no big deal but she continued. "When you told me what you became it was too much for me to handle and I foolishly lashed out at you. However, over time I came to realize that what happened to you was something that you had no control over. Also, instead of complaining about how unfair it might've been you decided to use it to try and help people. Hopefully in time you'll be able to forgive me."

Much like with what happen with the phony Alexis, Daisuke placed a comforting hand over her hand. "I already have." he simply commented. "What you said did hurt but later I realized that if the roles were reversed I would probably have reacted in the same way. Instead of worrying about the past we should look toward the present and the future." Slowly Daisuke allowed a smile to come out. "But I do believe that you already have."

Daisuke's statement became clearer when he removed his hand from Alexis' which revealed a wedding ring on her ring finger. Realizing what he was referring to, she placed the hand that had the ring on close to her heart. "You could say that. I got married to a great man a few years ago and we even had a child together.

As if calling for it, the sound of someone coming through the front door was heard. "Alexis, honey, we're home." It was clear that the voice belonged to a man which most likely was Alexis' husband. Mere seconds later, a small blur came rushing in and latched themselves onto a slightly surprised Alexis.

When he got a better look at what the blur was Daisuke saw that it came from a girl who appeared to be no older than five. She had dirty blonde hair that went down to her neck and was wearing a simple white dress. "Mommy, I had a fun day with daddy." It became clear that the girl was Alexis' daughter.

Smiling down at her daughter, Alexis ruffled the girl's hair. "That's nice dear. Hopefully you weren't that much trouble for your father." All she got as a response was her daughter laughing.

"Trouble would be an understatement." Coming over was a man that Daisuke realized was Alexis' husband. He seemed to be as old as he was and it became clear that the daughter got her hair color from him as it was the same short style. "The little troublemaker had me chasing after her through most of the part." Despite his recalling of the incident it was apparent that he was not upset as he smiled at the little girl. It was then that the man noticed Daisuke. "Oh, we have company. Who is this?"

Alexis was stumped on how she could answer without it making things complicated. Thankfully someone went ahead and answered for her. "The name's Davis Yagami." Daisuke answered by using an alias. He didn't know if Alexis told her husband about him so he decided to make up a name to prevent any possible complications. "I was a friend of Alexis during high school and I happened to be in town so I decided to come by and visit."

Seemingly accepting that excuse, the husband stuck his hand out to him. "The name's Yamato Ishida and it's a pleasure to meet you. Anyone who's a friend of my wife is a friend of mine." Daisuke would go ahead and shake Yamato's hand. "And this small bundle of energy is our daughter, Asuka."

Looking down at the little girl the ensouled vampire saw that she was looking back at him with her big blue eyes that were full of wonder. Kneeling down, Daisuke lightly placed a hand on top of her head. "You really are a cutie. No doubt when you get older you're going to have a lot of men bidding for your attention." His remark resulted in Asuka giggling and smiling at him.

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" asked Yamato. "You're more than welcome to join us."

"I'm afraid that I must decline." Daisuke replied as he stood back up. "There's some stuff that needs to be taken care of and unfortunately it doesn't give me much time to have fun." Ruffling Asuka's hair one more time he headed for the door. "Well, it's been fun but I need to be going. Maybe we could do this again sometime." Daisuke was about to open the door until someone grabbed his shoulder.

"I know that you have to leave but there's something that I want to say before you go." Putting his hand down, Daisuke kept quiet as he allowed Yamato to talk. "It's good that you showed up. Even though it has been a few years Alexis still has regret about the two of you breaking up." That revelation shocked Daisuke as he thought that the truth about him was known.

"I don't know the whole story but I know enough to realize that your name isn't Davis Yagami. Am I right, Daisuke Motomiya?" Daisuke's silence was all the answer that Yamato needed. "From what I could gather the two of you were a close couple until you guys broke up. The reason being is that something happen to you and Alexis couldn't deal with it and decided that she was unable to be with you anymore."

"_So, that's all he knows."_ thought Daisuke as he absorbed what he heard. _"Perhaps it's good that he doesn't know everything as it'll just lead to problems."_

"Whatever was that thing lead to you two to break up it's none of my business. However, I'm glad that you came over and reconciled your difference." While he didn't show it, Yamato could tell that the man before him appreciated what he said.

"You better not hurt her." Looking over his shoulder, Daisuke gave Yamato a half serious stare. "If you do I'll make you regret that you ever did."

Realizing what he was getting at, Yamato nodded his head in understanding. "Believe me; if I ever did I wouldn't stop you." With everything seemingly being settled the two did their farewells and Daisuke opened the door and left to resume the life that he was a part of.

-/-/-/-/-

It wasn't until about midnight when Daisuke finally returned home after leaving the home of the now Alexis Ishida and her family. When he got inside he was prepared to go straight to bed to sleep off his exhaustion from his long trip. To his misfortune that thought went out the window as he saw that he wasn't the only one that was in the house.

There asleep on the couch was Hikari. By how she was laying it was apparent that she must've been staying up for him to come home until she couldn't stay up any longer. Daisuke's first instinct was to let her just stay asleep but thought twice about it as he knew that she would be upset with him if he let her stay like that.

"Hey, wake up Hikari. It's time to get up." All he got from Hikari was her mumbling something about being too sleepy to go to school. Pushing down a laugh Daisuke tried to wake her up again and this he succeeded as she finally woke up. "Fell asleep while waiting for me didn't you?"

"No. What makes you think that?" Hikari tried to deny the claim but it became futile when a yawn escaped. "Okay, maybe I was." Not able to hide it, Daisuke laughed at his girlfriend's actions. Reacting not too kindly to her boyfriend laughing at her, Hikari smacked him in the back of the head. That seemed to do the trick as Daisuke's laughter ended. "Now that you're done making fun of me, you mind telling me how your talk with Alexis went?"

"It was all right." answered Daisuke simply. "A little awkward at first but once we got over that obstacle things got better. We managed to patch things up between us and I even got to meet her husband and daughter before leaving. I'm happy that she's moved on with her life."

"Are you really?" Hikari's question was unexpected and when Daisuke looked at her to see if he figured out what she was getting at he couldn't see anything as she had her face toward the ground. "What would you do if she was not married? What if she told you that she still had feelings for you?" It was then that Daisuke started to get an idea on what Hikari was getting at. "Would you have been happier if you were with Alexis instead of me?"

She tried to maintain strong front but it wasn't working as Daisuke could see the tears that were barely being held back by Hikari. There wasn't any response from him for a while which made the distraught woman feel even worse. "No, I wouldn't." he finally answered.

"I couldn't be happy with Alexis since she's a part of a life that I couldn't be in." Confusion was all he got from Hikari as she didn't understand what he meant. "She represents what things were like in my old life and I just don't mean when I was originally human. I wouldn't be able to live a life where I'm ignorant to the troubles that are kept hidden from the world. When I was a police officer I hoped that I was making a difference. That's not the same now as I _know_ that what's I'm doing is helping to make things better."

There still seemed to be a bit of puzzlement on Hikair's part as she remained quite throughout Daisuke's declaration. Things would only get more confusing as Daisuke kneeled down before her so that they were eye to eye. _"Wh-Why is he looking at me like that?"_ thought Hikari. The way that he was looking at her made her feel weird but not necessarily in a bad way. _"My heart is beating so fast that it's making me dizzy."_

"There's only one person that I would wish to be together with and she's right in front of me." To help prove that he was telling the truth, Daisuke leaned over and gave Hikari a kiss that contained all the love that he had for her. That seemed to have succeeded as she soon was returning the kiss that was just as loving and caring. Breaking apart the two had their foreheads against one another as they tried to regain their composure. "I love you Hikari Yagami. I love you more than I have ever loved someone before."

Before Hikari had the opportunity to reply, Daisuke dug into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. Repositioning himself that he was now on one knee he had the box in front of him. Swallowing down the nervousness that he had Daisuke opened the box to Hikari. When she saw what was inside she gasped as there was a ring with a diamond attached. "Hikari, would you do me the honor by marrying me?"

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Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't expect what was going to happen in this chapter? I think that was happened here helped to further not only the story but the overall series. It gave us a better introduction of the third higher up member, Byron Satori. Also, we got somewhat of the reason why the Takenaka Corporation had been so interested in Daisuke. 

So, that's all for now but I promise to have the next chapter on by this weekend. Speaking of which, I have to say that the next chapter will be the last one for this particular story. I'll talk more when it comes out. Until then, see ya and I hope you like what you had read.


	6. Clam Before The Storm

Now, here you go readers, the last chapter of the "Battles Before The War" story. With this story being over I have to say that the next story will be the last one of the series. This chapter will help set up for what's to come in the final few chapters and the last battles that are within those chapters.

Mostly this story is to help for what's to come and even those there's not really any real action I still enjoyed writing because I think to help show the characters in a different light. So, go ahead and read and like with all the previous dislcaimers, I don't own digimon.  
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_The first step to getting the things you want out of the life is this: Decide what you want.  
__Ben Stein_

Chapter 6:  
Calm Before  
The Storm

"Are you saying that you actually figured out what the higher ups major plan is?"

"I'm sure of it Daisuke." Ken's certainty slightly faltered under the gaze that everyone was giving him. "All right, I'm about ninety-five percent sure that I figured out what they are planning."

There was doubtful amongst some of them but were wiped away when Miyako voiced her support for Ken. "Hey, ninety-five percent is pretty good. Let's not forget that we didn't even have a clue about what the higher ups were planning. At least now we have an idea what it could be." Gratefully that seem to reassure everyone as they now waited for Ken to explain what he discovered.

"As we already know their plan has something to do with the blood that they managed to take from Daisuke. From the information that we got from Iori along with that I've discovered that the they are going to try to become demons."

"That's all?" The question came from James who didn't fully understand the situation. "Don't get me wrong, I know that this is a serious thing here. But if that's all they're trying to do then why haven't they just done it already? We all know that they have the power to do something that, so why have they waited until now to try it?"

"You bring up some valid questions James and I'll answer them. The higher ups aren't trying to become your ordinary demons. They're going to inquire the best attributes of the strongest and most powerful demons ever known and infuse them into themselves."

"_It's just like the dream that the Oracle showed me."_ thought Daisuke. Even if it happened so long ago he could he could still recall the dream where it had Samuel Bentson trying such a thing and succeeding. Just remembering how the demonic Samuel brutally killed his friends one by one sent chills up and down his spine. "Did you happen to find out where and when they're going to try the transformation?"

Briefly looking over some papers Ken nodded his head in acknowledgement. "It's going to take place at the Takenaka Corporation building and when it happens is two days from now."

With the revelation of the up coming event came as a shock. Even Daisuke couldn't deny what he was feeling. _"So, two days it is. That sounds like a reasonable amount of time."_ "Okay everyone listen. There's something important that I want you to do for me." All of them kept quiet as they allowed the unofficial leader of the group to talk. "For the next two days I want all of you take a vacation." To say that Daisuke's request was unexpected would be an understatement as all of them didn't expect him to say something like that.

"Take a vacation?" repeated James as none of them couldn't fully grasp what they were being told what to do. "But Daisuke, if we're going to fight with the higher ups then shouldn't we prepare ourselves for it?" The question was a reasonable one and Daisuke was quick to give an answer.

"No. Any preparations made in this short of time wouldn't make any significant difference." Everyone was quick to disagree but Daisuke put a halt to them. "We only got two days until we have to fight and instead of spending that time worrying over it we should use it to enjoy the time that we have." The seriousness of the situation was being made clear.

"For these two days I want all of you to live them as though they were your last. Because if you decide to fight there's a good chance that we'll probably won't be alive." How it was said it sounded like a high probability that just some false words. "Before you decide on whether you want to fight or not, take these two days to think it over. Then after you need to ask yourself if this fight is worth giving your life for as some if not all of us won't be standing when the final bell is rung."

Nothing was said as each of them allowed what was said to sink in. "Think wisely because this is a decision that'll change your lives."

-/-/-/-/-

Hours Later…

After the emotional discussion that took place practically everyone left to do their thing for the next two days. Whether any of them would comeback for the up coming fight was known and Daisuke couldn't blame them if they didn't. _"To willingly put your life on the line in any situation is hard for any person and those who would usually be willing to do so do have their breaking point. No matter what their decision is it was an honor to know them."_ The thoughts that were going through the enousled vampire's head that he didn't notice that he wasn't alone.

"Daisuke, it's late. What are you doing up?" Leaning up against the wall was Hikari who was dressed in her usual sleepwear of a large black night shirt that went to mid thigh and gray shorts. "Why don't you come to bed and get some sleep? You look worn out."

"It's all right Hikari. I'm not all that tired." His claim would quickly be proven false as a yawn escaped him. "Okay, maybe I'm a little tired."

Leaving her spot, Hikari walked over to Daisuke. When she got behind his chair she leaned over and draped her arms over his shoulders. "You're thinking about earlier aren't you?

Not seeing the point in denying it, Daisuke decided to come clean. "Yeah, I am. In two days there's going to be a fight that could very well change how this world could be. Until then all of us have to look inside ourselves and decide if we should fight or not."

"Don't worry yourself over this so much." In the hopes of him feeling more at ease Hikari leaned closer to her boyfriend so that their heads were side by side. "All of us know how important this upcoming situation is and what could happen. That's why we're all going to be there for you when the time comes."

"Wait a minute." Turning in his seat Daisuke gave his girlfriend a leveled stare. "You're not going to be a part of this fight." By Daisuke's voice he wasn't going to argue over the decision. However, Hikari wasn't about to take the decision lying down.

"The hell I am." To make sure that she would get her point across she walked around so that she was now in front of the chair that Daisuke was sitting in. "You don't expect me to sit back and let you fight do you? If so, than you're greatly mistaken."

"It's not just you that I don't want to be a part of this." Hikari didn't understand what Daisuke said until he placed a hand lightly on her stomach. "Remember, you're also carrying our child. I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to either one of you."

Now having an understanding why he was acting like he was, Hikari placed her own hand on top of his. "Believe me; I know what you're getting at. Like you I don't know how I'd be able to go on if I were to lose you." As if acting on its own she tenderly rubbed her left hand, more precise her ring finger. "I still haven't given you my answer to your proposal."

Knowing what proposal that she was referring to, Daisuke removed his hand from Hikari's stomach and let out a small sigh as he slumped further into his seat. "Trust me, I haven't forgotten about it. You said that you needed time to think it over and I accepted that as I know that you'll make the right decision, whatever it may be."

"Well, I'm ready to give you my answer." She was going to give her answer when she was silenced by a finger being placed on her lips. "Daisuke?"

"Don't give me your answer yet." Hikari was about to argue against his request but Daisuke continued. "You're worried about losing me and it may cause you to rush in answering my proposal. Wait until it's all over to give me your answer. It'll just give me more of a reason to be still here at the end."

Soon tears started to pour from the eyes of Hikari. They were quickly gone as Daisuke used his thumb to wipe them away. "I promise you that I'll comeback. I'll return to both you and our child."

The words from her boyfriend got their desired affect as the tears of Hikari came to an end and was replaced with a loving smile. Becoming overcome by emotion she leaned close and gave Daisuke a long kiss that didn't end until she felt that she made her emotions clear. "You may not allow me to answer your proposal but that doesn't mean that I can't show you how much I love you." Without another word she grabbed Daisuke's arm and began to drag him back to his bedroom. _"You shouldn't worry yourself about what's ahead Daisuke. There's no doubt in my mind that when the time comes all of us will be along side you in full support."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Damn that stupid Daisuke." voiced an irritable Miyako. She was at the moment being helped inside as she wasn't in full control of her faculties. "Who does he think he is telling us to take two days off?"

"That really didn't stop you from taking advantage of this break did it?" smirked Ken who was the one helping Miyako get around. "You spent most of the day drinking at a bar." Just remembering what took place not that long ago made the purple haired young man to shake his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe that you got us kicked out of the bar."

"Well, I wasn't left with much of a choice." Miyako exclaimed as she collapsed in her seat. "Those drunken bastards kept hitting on me. I had to do something to make them stop."

"But did you really have to throw those guys around like they were nothing?" The only response that he got from Miyako was her waving off of the matter. "Thankfully the owner of the bar decided to not press charges. Probably it was his way of thanking you for buying so many drinks from them."

"And I'll be feeling those drinks later on." groaned the indigo haired woman. Apparently the alcohol from all those drinks that she had were finally getting to her as she leaned her head over the back of her chair. Placing a hand on her forehead she let out another groan. "I'm going to feel like shit tomorrow."

Laughing quietly at the scene before him, Ken sat on a nearby couch. "Don't you worry, if it's really that bad I'll give you something that'll make that hangover go away." There was nothing said by either one for a while until Ken spoke up again. "So, tomorrow is the day."

"Yeah it is." remarked Miyako who was putting the pain from he oncoming hangover aside for the serious discussion. "This battle is going to be big. Bigger than we could probably ever imagine." The tone that the Patheran woman was using it was clear that she was absolutely serious about the matter. "Despite what could happen I'm going to be there for Daisuke. He was there for me and Mimi many times in the past so now it's time for me to do the same for him."

"The same goes for me." Ken stated with the same determination that Miyako had. "That's probably why Daisuke wanted us to have these two days for ourselves. There's a good chance that we may not be alive when it's all over. So he gave us these two days to do what we want so that we wouldn't die with any regrets." Apparently the day was more exhausting than Ken originally thought as he laid himself completely across the couch and closed his eyes.

He wasn't sure how much time had pass but Ken reopened his eyes when he felt something on top of him. What he saw was a shock as straddled on his lap was Miyako. "M-Mi-Miyako? What are you doing?"

"I'm just doing what we're supposed to be doing. I'm using this time off to make sure that we don't have anything that we may regret not doing." What Miyako did next caught Ken by complete surprise as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Ken's.

The move was so unexpected that Ken just lay prone on the couch as the basically one sided kiss continued. However, slowly but surely he surrendered to his emotions as he started to return the kiss. It wouldn't last long as Ken regained his composure as he forced Miyako to break the passionate embrace. "Miyako, stop it. The alcohol has affected your judgment."

"You're wrong Ken." said Miyako as she refused to get up from her position. "It isn't the alcohol that's making me want to do this. It's been something that I've wanted to do for quite some time." Once again she started to kiss Ken only now it was a flurry of butterfly kisses all across his face. "I care for you Ken. For as long as I can remember I've deeply cared for you."

Wanting to regain control of the situation, Ken got a firm hold of Miyako's shoulders and pushed her back enough that he could get to a sitting position. "If what you're saying is true how can you be sure that I feel the same?"

That question caused an immediate change in Miyako's attitude as she became completely serious. "I know that you have feelings for me and those feelings go beyond friendship. If you want proof then how about when you willingly allowed me to live with you so soon after I arrived in this world?"

"You were new to this world." Ken quickly answered. "I felt that it was the right thing to do." Ken's response sounded like a reasonable one but even he felt that it wasn't the complete truth.

"How about all those outings that we've had?" Miyako countered as she didn't let up. "Also, you were quickly there to defend me and my cousin during the dispute that we had with my father."

"I wasn't the only one to come to your guys' defense. James was really the one to stick up for the two of you. As for those outings, they were merely ones between friends. Remember, Daisuke and Hikari did similar things in the past."

"Yes and look how things turned out for them." Miyako had to smile at Ken as he realized that he walked right into that trap. "I'm not trying to say 'I love you'. All I'm asking from you is that you admit that you do care about me more than a friend."

Whatever would happen next depend on how Ken responded as neither one did anything or even move from their positions. Muttering some quiet words to himself, Ken focused his eyes solely on Miyako who was somewhat growing impassionate to hear his reply. "Maybe, just maybe I do have those feelings for you that are beyond friendship." Try as he might a mischievous smile was seen coming across his face.

That answer was good enough for Miyako as a huge smile came over her face. She would continue to show her happiness by again kissing the man that she was straddling. "Just give us a try Ken. That's all that I ask." Soon the kissing became more shared as Ken decided to do what the woman that he cared for asked of him.

-/-/-/-/-

It was a clear and sunny day in Kyoto. Throughout the city most of its inhabitants were going about their day with hardly a care. The same couldn't be said about one particular person as Serenity was doing something that she felt was very important.

"Hello, it's been a while hasn't it?" What she was talking to was one of the many tombstones that were in that cemetery. The particular tombstone that she was standing over was for the grave of someone that Serenity knew very well. The grave belonged to none other than Rowan Stevens.

Kneeling down Serenity placed the bundle of flowers that she brought with her on the woman's grave. "Sorry that I haven't come to visit sooner. I've been meaning to come here but so much has been going on that I haven't had the time. Lame excuse I know but what's done is done."

By how Serenity became quiet it made it seem like she was expecting for Rowan to some how talk to her. There was of course no response but that didn't seem to bother her as she brushed her hand over the tombstone. "Are you planning to hide there all day or are you going to show yourself?"

It seemingly appeared as though Serenity was just speaking out loud until walking out from behind a near by tree was her roommate and aunt, Jun Motomiya. "How long did you know what was here?"

"Not that long." she answered without any anger. "How did you know that I would be here? I don't remember telling you where I was going."

Leaving from her spot, Jun walked over to her niece's side. "It wasn't that hard to figure out. You said that you had to see someone and it was doubtful that it was your father or anyone of his friends. Also, considering what's to come I thought of what I would do if I was in your shoes and it led me to here." A moment of silence followed as the two stood before the grave. "You miss her don't you?"

"Yes I do. It still saddens me when I think back to how she met her end." The mere recalling of that unfortunate incident had Serenity clenching her hands tightly to contain the anger that she was feeling. Thankfully it worked as the feeling slowly faded away. "The two of you would've gotten along well with each other I believe."

"I have no doubt that we would." Once again silence came over them but was quickly broken by Jun. "So, today's the day." It wasn't really a question but more of a statement. "Do I even have to ask if you're going to be a part of the upcoming fight?"

"No, you don't have to ask. I'm fighting and making sure that those higher up bastards pay for killing Rowan." Feeling her anger getting close to coming out, Serenity took a few deeply breaths before continuing. "They may have not been the ones who fired the gun that killed her but they were the ones that created the events that led to her death. For everything that they've done I can never forgive them."

Not long after both aunt and niece left the cemetery. As they left Serneity looked over her shoulder at the grave of her foster mother. _"I promise you Rowan, I'll make you proud. As proud as I am that you considered me as your daughter."_

-/-/-/-/-

"Are you sure that this is what you want to do?" asked a slightly bewildered James. The person beside him just got closer to him.

"I'm sure." confirmed Mimi. "There's nothing that I want to do more than being right here with you." The recently married couple was in bed, snuggled up close with one another.

"Well, you'll get no argument from me. I'm more than content at staying here with you like this." James was saying the truth as he lightly stroked his wife's hair as she had her head on his chest. It was a peaceful moment between the two but there were doubts hidden amongst that moment. "Tonight's the night." Whether she meant to or not he felt Mimi tighten her grip around him. "Are you worried?"

"No." Mimi said that was clearly a lie. "Okay, maybe I am a little. Can you blame me?" With the concern showing itself in the woman that he loved, James lean over and kiss the top of Mimi's head. "This may surprise you but its times like this that I still had my power of premonition." That was definitely a surprise as her husband didn't expect to hear that. "At least then we could probably use it to give us a hint about what could happen."

"Nothing is for certain." James stated in a simply tone. "There's no way to know exactly what'll happen in life. One decision or even one moment can change how the future can become. All we can do is do our best in making sure that the future is one that'll we want to live in."

As James said those words, Mimi turned her head so that she was looking at the face of the man that she loved. His words had an effect on her as she pressed her ear to his chest and sighed as she listened to the rhythmic beating of his heart. "Just curious but if you were to get a premonition what do you think that you might see?"

"Who knows?" Mimi answered truthfully. "There's the possibility that we won't make it out of this alive." As if sensing his wife's concern, James tightened his hold on her and as he hoped it helped to put Mimi at ease. "However, there's one that I hope will happen. I'm hoping that we'll all live long lives, having children and watching as those children grow up. Wouldn't' that be something worth having?"

Loosening his hold on Mimi, James maneuvered her so that their faces were inches away from each other. "That does sound like a good thing." Soon the two were kissing one another fondly and it was sometime until they came for air. "So, children you say? Are you trying to hint at something? Perhaps wanting a little one running around?"

Suddenly becoming shy, Mimi looked away from her husband as she began to blush. "Maybe I am. Why do you ask?" Before James had a chance to answer, Mimi straddled her body on his waist and looked at him with a somewhat flirtatious smile. "Are you interested?"

Returning the smile with one of his own, James put his hands on the hips of Mimi. "Perhaps I am. How about we start now and see how it goes?"

-/-/-/-/-

"So, you're actually going to go through with it?"

"Yes I am." answered Daisuke in a tone that lacked any real emotion. "Tonight is where everything will come to an end, one way or another. I'll make sure of it."

"Let's forget about that for the moment and have a good family dinner." advised Jun in an almost pleading voice. Thankfully that got its desired affect as soon the entire Motomiya family started to partake in a peaceful dinner. However, as this was going on, the one non-family member, Hikari was feeling somewhat out of place.

"Is something wrong dear?" asked Anzu Motomiya. "Are you feeling under the weather?" It was about that time that everyone turned their attention toward the two women.

"No. I'm fine, Mrs. Motomiya." assured Hikari, all the while she mentally herself for acting like she was. "I just have a lot on my mind is all."

"Please, there's no need to be so polite. You can call me Anzu. I mean that you're practically already family." That statement caused Hikari to blush slightly. Things would only get more troublesome for her with what Anzu said next. "Also, you're carrying my future grandchild."

"Y-Y-You know about that?" By no means did Hikari have anything against the Motomiyas knowing about her pregnancy. They did have a right to know seeing as how they were going to be the child's grandparents and Jun being the aunt. What she had a problem with though was how they found out. Hikari certainly didn't tell them and it was doubtful that any of her friends told. So that only left option on how they could've found out.

"When Daisuke told us we were shocked. However, once that passed we couldn't be anymore glad." Anzu reached over and held the hands of Hikari so that what she was saying got through. "I meant it when I said that we already consider you as a member of this family and it makes me glad that my son has fallen in love with a great woman."

Hikari couldn't take those endearing words. She was so touch by what she heard that the tears began to flow from her eyes. When she managed to calm herself a bit Hikari saw that both Hiroto and Jun were silently showing their agreement to what Anzu said. "Thank you, all of you. I'm grateful for what you said and support. I shall never forget it."

Giving the room another once over Hikari saw that someone was noticeably missing. She was about to ask where he went until Hiroto beat her to it. "He went to his old room. Go ahead and go to him."

After giving another round of thanks, Hikari went to find the missing Motomiya member. She wouldn't have to look long as he was where his father said that he would be. "So, this is where you disappeared to."

"The place that Daisuke went to was the room that was formerly his when he was younger. When Hikari found him she saw him staring some shelves that had a variety of items and pictures of Daisuke throughout his life. By how he was looking at the items it appeared that he was in heavy thought.

"It's funny really." Daisuke suddenly said. "Bach then, when I was human, I thought things like going to school, playing sports and dating girls were the most important thing. Looking back I can't believe how foolish I was."

"Usually that's the case when you're young." Hikari remarked as she walked over to him. She glanced over to the pictures and Hikari couldn't help but laugh as some of them captured Daisuke in some humorous moments. One in particular was of him as a young boy wearing make up and a grinning Jun standing behind him.

"But as we grow up we begin to give up those childish things and accept that we're no longer little children but that we've become adults." With a heavy sigh Hikari grabbed Daisuke's arm and lend her head against his shoulder. "You're actually going to go through with it aren't you?" It was obvious what she was talking about.

"Yes I am." answered Daisuke in complete seriousness. "We both know that if we don't try to stop them this world will most surely meet its end. This fight needs to happen so to give the next generation a chance at a peaceful future and that includes our unborn child."

Hikari had to agree with her boyfriend's words as she would like nothing better than have the child that was growing inside of her to have close to a normal life as possible. As she thought it over, a case of drowsiness started to come over her. _"Wh-What's going on? I can barely keep my eyes open."_ Try as she might Hikari just couldn't shake off the feeling of sleep.

Apparently sensing his girlfriend's predicament, Daisuke maneuvered her over to his old bed. "It seems as though the pills are finally taking their affect."

"What are you talking about?" questioned Hikari. "What pills?" She was so out of it that her words were starting to become slurred.

"While you weren't looking I had my mom slip a few sleeping pills in your drink. They were pretty strong so you'll most likely be out of it for a few hours."

Hikari tried to get up from the bed but didn't have the strength to do so. "W-Why Daisuke? Why did you do this to me?"

A look of both seriousness and concern came over Daisuke as he gazed down at Hikari. "I've told you before Hikari that I don't want you to get hurt. This is going to be a dangerous fight and you're in no condition to be involved." Even in her near incoherent state Hikari knew that he was referring to her being pregnant.

"The odds of us coming out of this let alone alive are slim to none." Slowly Daisuke placed a hand on Hikari's stomach. "At the very least whatever may become of us we can take some satisfaction that one of us is still alive and maybe some how have the next generation ready for what's to come." Daisuke was about to get going but was stopped when Hikari, even in her current condition, managed to grab a hold of his hand.

"You're a real son of a bitch you know that?" Silence was the only response. "There's no way that I can stop you, I realize that. Before you go though, let me give you my answer to your proposal."

Knowing what proposal that she was talking about, Daisuke tried to brush it off. "There's no need for that Hikari. Now isn't the time." He tried to free himself from his girlfriend's hold but it was proving to be unsuccessful.

"Please. It means something to _me_." She stopped talking momentarily as she shook away a bout of sleep that was trying to overtake her. "For your proposal, I would've…said…yes." That last part came out almost as a slurred as Hikari finally gave into the sleeping pills and entered the world of dreams.

A something sad smile came over Daisuke's face as he looked down at his girlfriend's sleeping form. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the ring that he proposed with. Daisuke grabbed Hikari's left hand and carefully slipped the ring onto her ring finger. "I already knew. But it was still nice to hear it." Leaning over he lightly kissed Hikari on the lips before getting up to leave. He was about to exit the room but stopped to look at the unconscious woman. "You may not be able to hear me but I'm going to say it anyway. I love you Hikari and I treasure all of the moments that we had together. Whatever may happens I hope that you have a happy life."

Not being able to stay there any longer, Daisuke left the room and walked down the hall. He was going to head for the front door until someone called out to him. "Are you really planning to leave without saying goodbye to your family?"

Turning back around the vampire hero came face to face with his parents and sister. "I just thought that it would be easier if I left without saying goodbye. Foolish I know but I thought that it would be better."

Jun would be the one to make the move first as she walked over to where she was only a foot away from her brother. Expecting some kind of retaliation, Daisuke braced himself for it to come. It wouldn't though as Jun instead wrap her arms around his neck and pulled him into an embrace. "Please be careful. Also, please lookout for my niece." All she got for conformation was her brother nodding his head.

Once Daisuke was released from his sister's grip he was immediately in the one of his mother and he quickly notice the tears that were coming down from her eyes. "Don't cry. Everything is going to be okay." He tried to reassure his mother but it wasn't proving to be successful.

"Don't you try to lie to me!" his mother yelled back. When Anzu realized the tone of her voice she calmed herself down a bit. "You couldn't lie to me. Not even when you were younger. Just promise that you'll comeback to us, all right."

"Sure. I'll do my best." Anzu Motomiya slowly let go of her son as she felt as though it may be the last time that she would be able to do such a thing. That just left his father, Hiroto who was standing off to the side. "So, this is it."

"Yeah it is." Hiroto calmly replied. Instead of following the other two's example, he simply stuck his hand out to his son. Understanding the meaning to the gesture, Daisuke captured his father's hand with his. "I believe that I speak for you mother when I say that we're proud to have you as our son." Those words deeply touch the vampire son as he sometime worried that his parents thought bad about him. "Now, go do what you and your friends have to do."

After giving his father's hand one finally firm shake, Daisuke let it go and turned to see all three members of his family. "It's time for me to go and I want to say something before I do. I'm grateful to be still considered as a member of this family even though I've…changed. Please, take care of Hikari and the baby. Remember, they're family. Our family." Having said that he left, leaving the concern Motomiya behind.

"Do you think he'll make it?" asked a concern Anzu as she couldn't hide the worry that she was feeling.

"Honestly I don't know." replied her husband as he reached over and brought his wife closer to him, hoping to calm her down. "All we can do is hope that he and his friends will be able to succeed and that they'll return."

"Let's not forget that he's also a Motomiya." added Jun. "And Motomiyas are too stubborn to quit."

-/-/-/-/-

The drive was a quiet one for Daisuke as he continually thought about what was to come. Even after parking he just sat there as if to prepare himself. "All right Daisuke, this is it. This is the moment that you were waiting for. The opportunity to put an end to this whole thing is here. Now isn't the time for you to start second guessing yourself."

That weird form of a pep talk appeared to do the trick as Daisuke's confidence was restored. Getting out of his car he unlocked the truck and began to load up on weaponry. "It's about time that you showed up." spoke someone from behind. "For a while I thought that you wouldn't come."

Caught momentarily by surprise Daisuke was close to attacking but stopped himself when he recognized the voice. "You know me better than that." he answered without even turning around. "I'm too stubborn to back down from anything." With a small grin on his face, Daisuke turned to the person that was behind him. "Wouldn't you agree, Serenity?"

His suspicion was proven correct as the person was none other than his daughter. Like him, Serenity had a similar grin on her face. "I guess you wouldn't. Whether that's due to being stubborn or stupid is unknown." Daisuke wanted to argue about that remark but decided not to since now wasn't the time. "It seems like we're not alone." Serenity informed suddenly.

Like with Daisuke moments ago, Serenity what she said would be correct as four individuals made their presence known. "So the gang is back together." Indeed the people that showed up were none other than Ken, Miyako, Mimi and James. Like with the two Motomiya members, they all appeared to be ready for what was to come. "However, it seems that we're missing one."

"Hikari's not going to be here." Daisuke immediately answered the question that the others were unwilling to ask. "I decided that she shouldn't be involved in this and I don't care if you agree with me or not."

"Don't worry, we understand." reassured Miyako. "It wouldn't be good to have her being a part of this with her current condition." Silently everyone showed their agreement to what was said. "Let's just make sure that we came back to her."

"Thanks you guys. I really appreciate it. Now, let's get going." Almost like they were marching they headed for their desired direction. Soon they were less than a block away from the Takenaka Corporation. Before going any further, Daisuke turned to the group. "You know you guys, there's still time to back out. I wouldn't think any less of you if you did."

"Are you kidding?" responded Serenity. "There's no way that I'm going to stand back and let you do this on your own."

"Don't even try to change our minds Daisuke." exclaimed James. "This is something that we want to do."

"We've been through so much together." established Miyako. "There's no way that we walk away now."

"We want to see this through to the end as well Daisuke." added Mimi. "No matter what happens we want to be a part of this."

With renewed determination, Daisuke turned back to the Takenaka Corporation. "Then, let's get to work."

* * *

Well, what did you guys think? Hopefully I did a good job at showing how the characters were responding about taking part of a fight that they could possibly not survive from. Remember, this chapter wasn't about fighting, it was about if they are willing to give up everything for the greater good. 

You might be wondering why I did what I did to Hikari and not have her being a part of the final fight. The reason is that while I could've had her involved in it I decided not to because it would've been somewhat hard to believe that she wouldn't be considered about hurting her unborn child.

Now, with this story out of the way it's now time to do the next and final story of the series. I won't reveal anything but I will say that you won't be expecting what's going to happen. As to when I'll have it on I think it'll be up by Tuesday or no later than Wednesday. Until then, see ya.


End file.
